Ranma Saotome and the Maiden's Daughter
by Baron Zed
Summary: Kasumi finds out that she has a different mother than her sisters and that she must go to America to learn how to protect herself from the dangers that brings her. Nodoka (who has her own secret) convinces Ranma to marry Kasumi so that he can protect her and as a way out of the fiancée mess. Kasumi, daughter of Hestia (Athena style). Ranma, son of Inari (Nodoka's real identity).
1. Chapter 1: Nodoka's Proposal

Ranma and his friends were created by Rumiko Takahashi. Percy and his friends were created by Rick Riordan. This is fan fiction.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This story starts months after the end of the Ranma manga and near the beginning of _Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief._ My plan is to have Ranma participate in a quest that runs parallel to the Canon Percy Jackson one. I have the introduction written or plotted out, but I'm not sure how frequent updates will be after that.

The Athena style note about Kasumi's parentage simply means that she was created without being born traditionally-not that she burst out of Hestia's head.

* * *

Ranma stood in front of the address his mother had given him. It was a smallish house in the area of Nerima north of the Furinkan district. He shrugged to himself and knocked on the door.

His mother opened the door. "Hello, Ranma. Come in," she said.

She led him to the front room. He knelt at the short table.

"Would you like tea?" she asked.

"Yes, please," he answered.

His mother left and returned after a few minutes with a pitcher and a small tray with snacks on it. "I prepared this, since I knew you were coming."

She poured a cup of tea for him and then knelt opposite him. "Ranma," she said. "I wanted to talk to you about the direction your life was heading. I have a task I would like you to do. If you decide not to do it, I won't hold it against you."

She paused and then drew out the seppuku contract that had been hanging over his head for much of the last year. "I want you to know that I won't hold you to this and never intended to."

Ranma blinked. "Not that I'm not glad to hear you say that, but what about family honor?"

She laughed. "This thing is so poorly worded that there are any number of ways that it could be interpreted that you've already fulfilled. The trivial way that I said it was fulfilled before that nasty business at Jusendo among them. I'll have you know that this was never my idea. I never even saw it until after your father had taken you. I only went along with it to keep your father in line. I'm sorry that I left it hanging over you like that. I might not have realized how much it affected you if Kasumi hadn't told me. I sometimes get too caught up in my plans and I often have a hard time relating to people."

He shrugged. "Ah, Mom. Don't feel too bad about that. You let me off the hook once you found out who I was."

She looked a little embarrassed. "Um, I knew you were Ranko from the first moment I saw her. I guess I played dumb because I wanted you to tell me of your own free will."

"You knew?" he asked, shocked.

She smirked. "You do look like a younger version of me with brighter hair. Plus, I have certain advantages that I'll talk about later in our conversation."

She stopped as if gathering her thoughts. Ranma looked around curiously. "What is this place, Mom?"

"It's one of my houses," she answered.

At his shocked expression she smirked and said, "I have a lot more resources than your father knows about. I asked you to this place because I wanted to talk to you privately."

"Okay."

"Son," she said seriously. "What do you think about your fiancées?"

He shrugged. "I guess I like them all in some fashion. I don't really want to marry any of them, but what I want doesn't seem to matter to anyone."

"Even that Kunou girl?" his mother asked.

He grimaced. "I don't consider her a fiancée, no matter what she says."

"She did give your father a bunch of money to be considered such," she countered.

"And he had no intention of honoring it when he took it," he answered. "She's not old enough or sane enough to enter into contracts and the old man's too cagey to actually sign anything."

"I don't think your father actually signed any of the fiancée agreements—not even the Tendou one," his mother commented.

"What about Shampoo?" she said after a moment.

"She's okay when she's not trying to marry me or kill me," he answered, "but I don't want to marry her, no matter what she or the Old Ghoul say about us already being married. I've seen how they treat their men, and I'm not thrilled about a lot of their other customs—not to mention she was willing to kill me just because I beat her in a fight as a girl."

"I've talked to Cologne and she mentioned that during the Reversal Jewel incident that when Shampoo rejected the Kiss of Marriage, you tried to get it back."

Ranma grimaced. "My competitive nature rearing its ugly head. I can't stand losing even when I should. Plus, I have so few friends that I didn't want to lose her, even if it meant continuing the engagement."

Nodoka hummed. "If it weren't for that incident it would be trivial to argue that the Kiss of Marriage was invalid since you didn't know better and contracts such as marriage can't be entered into unawares." She looked at him. "You are aware that she faces harsh penalties if she goes home without you."

He sighed. "Yes. It's one of the reasons I haven't argued more strenuously against our engagement."

"What about Ukyou?" his mother asked.

"I think of her more like a buddy or possibly a sister now. I like talking to her, but the way she fawns over me sometimes turns me off. I also get the feeling that if I marry her, I'll be expected to become part of her family business, which doesn't interest me."

"The sister comment has merit. I could adopt her if her father won't accept her."

"That would be great, Mom," said Ranma, "but I doubt she would go for it if it gave Pop legal authority over her. He'd have her married off for a pittance before she could sneeze."

"It would be trivial to get your father declared an unfit parent and remove any legal authority if it came to that," said his mother. "I've rather carefully documented what happened to you on the training journey. The Cat Fist Training alone would do it."

He laughed ruefully. "You know about that, huh?"

She frowned. "I almost ended the training journey right there. Only the rules I have to live by stopped me."

"Rules?" he asked curiously.

"I'll explain before you leave today," she promised, "but let's finish this discussion first.

"What about Akane?" she asked.

"I care about her. At one point I thought it might be romantic, but in the months since we almost got married, I've come to the conclusion that we think about each other as close siblings more than anything. We fight and argue way too much to actually marry."

"Have you talked to her about this?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "She agrees. We just haven't told anyone because of the turmoil it would cause."

"What about Nabiki?" asked his mother.

"Nabiki?" he asked. "She isn't a fiancée."

"Technically, the engagement is to any of the Tendou sisters."

He grimaced. "I was engaged to her for about a week one time when I made Akane mad. She sold me to various sports groups and fiancées. I'd rather have nothing to do with her. If she has any good points I haven't seen them very often, if at all."

"What about Kasumi?" she asked.

"I think of her as an older sister. She's nice, but she keeps herself aloof from all the craziness. I get the feeling that there's more to her than she shows, but she keeps it pretty well hidden."

"If you had to choose between them, including all the Tendou girls, which would you choose?"

"Honestly? Probably Kasumi, if I didn't think it would ruin her life. She's the only one of the girls who has never actively abused me. However, the other girls would kill her, I don't think she would appreciate the craziness, and, most of all, I don't think she's interested. After that, probably a tossup between Akane and Ukyou. If I could get away with, I'd marry none of them at this point. I feel like I'm too young to get married."

His mother hummed. "Kasumi's life is about to change drastically. I think she could use your support."

"Really?" he asked. "In what way?"

"It's not my place to say. The families will find out about it tomorrow on her twentieth birthday. However, I will say that she will most likely have to go to America soon. I would like it if you went with her to keep an eye on her, but the only way to honorably do so would be to. . ."

"Marry her," Ranma finished for her. "Is it going to be dangerous for her?"

"I expect so," said Nodoka. "She'll be thrown in among some powerful people who are undergoing some pretty serious turmoil right now with minimal support."

"Can't she stay here?" asked Ranma.

"Her main protection that has shielded her until now will be expiring after her birthday," she answered.

Ranma stared at his teacup with a gloomy expression.

Nodoka looked pensive. "I'm sorry to have to spring the duty card on you like this. I owe the Tendou family my protection, but I can't protect Kasumi in her situation. I'd like you to fill in for me."

"What's your relationship to the Tendou family?" Ranma asked curiously.

She sighed. "I'm going to release my aura. Please don't be alarmed. I'm not who you think I am, but I _am_ your mother."

Ranma stiffened, but nodded.

Nodoka's aura started to grow and grow and grow. She was much more powerful than Saffron, Cologne, and Happosai put together.

"This isn't my natural state, but it's as much as I can safely release here," said the woman who claimed to be his mother.

"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you?"

"Actually, my original name _is_ Nodoka, but most people call me Inari."

"Inari? The god of rice and foxes?" he asked, confused.

"That's right," she answered as she pulled her aura back in.

"My mother is a god? Err, goddess?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm both, actually. And I'm sorry, but because of that, things like your curse are occasionally drawn to my children."

"It's your fault?" he asked, shocked.

"Not intentionally." She chuckled ruefully. "You can see why I was never going to hold you to that contract. That would have been highly hypocritical."

"How does this relate to the Tendous?" he asked.

"Soun and his girls are actually descended from one of my other sons."

"What?" he said, surprised. "You want me to marry one of my nieces?"

She looked at him calmly and said, "Don't be ridiculous, Ranma. The son that they're descended from died over 300 years ago. You aren't closely related. If you want to be technical, at least half of Japan is descended from me at some distance, since I've lived for almost 2000 years. However, I only closely follow those that retain some of my divine spark, which averages out to about one family per child of mine after a few generations. I feel I owe them my protection, but there are rules that I have to operate under and I can't do much for them directly. I'm especially fond of Kasumi—she's a special young woman. She's been sheltered in many respects, but I think she could do well if she's given a buffer to protect her while she adjusts."

"Isn't marriage a little extreme for that?" Ranma asked, doubtfully.

"I've lived a long time and had over a dozen husbands and even a couple of wives. The modern idea of marrying for love does not actually produce more happy marriages than arranged marriages. You can see this by looking at the divorce rates. However, I genuinely think that you and Kasumi could be very happy together."

"Wouldn't it be better if we had more in common?" Ranma countered.

"Sometimes, but you and Akane actually have very similar personalities. How do you think that would work out for you?"

He chuckled. "Like a roller coaster at 100 kilometers per hour—moments of wild fun bracketed by moments of wild terror. Like I said before, Akane and I decided it would be better not to try."

They both chuckled.

"I think Kasumi would balance you nicely. She has some real steel underneath her soft exterior. If given an opportunity to grow, I think she would surprise you nicely."

The conversation lulled for a moment.

"How many children have you had?" Ranma asked curiously.

"You are my 27th child, Ranma," she answered.

"That's not a lot for two millennia," he commented.

"No, it's not," she replied. "I'm not promiscuous like a Greek."

"What possessed a goddess to marry Pop?" he asked.

"Your father was different as a young man; Happosai ruined him. Even so, he still has many of the qualities that a Shinto deity looks for in a spouse."

"What?" He looked at her like she was crazy.

She smiled wanly. "You, Ranma, for your age, are one of my most powerful children. We Shinto deities look to challenge our children so that they can grow and take their place by our sides. Your father has done that very well. I regret some of the things he has done to you, but I think, overall, you've turned out rather well. You definitely need some refinement, but that will come with time."

Ranma looked thoughtfully at his teacup. "I can accept that, although I think it's kind of cold."

His mother reached over and touched his shoulder. "I know that it seems that way, but over the years we've tried several ways of child-rearing and this has gotten the best results. I agree that it's not nice." She shrugged. "The world is not a nice place—even now."

"Is Pop descended from you?" Ranma asked tilting his cup back and forth so that the liquid in it swirled.

"He is very distantly, but that's not why I've followed your family for many generations. Have you ever thought about what your last name means?"

"Rice-planting girl?" he said, hesitantly.

She nodded. "That surname was first given to my first priestess. The gift I gave her has traveled down the generations to your father and now you." She paused. "Have you ever wondered why most of your associates here are more powerful than your typical martial artist?"

"I thought it was just that Nerima attracted that type of person," he said.

"That's true to a certain extent, but those people are powerful in the first place because they have the divine spark. I've already mentioned about your father and the Tendous. The Amazons are descended from several Chinese gods, distantly. The Kunous are descended from Amaterasu through an illegitimate daughter of an Emperor several hundred years ago. Ryouga is the son of a god, like you."

"Which one?" he asked.

"It would be considered poor manners for me to say," she said.

"You told for the Kunous," he pointed out.

She smiled. "No one cares about them—not even their ancestor. If she could, Amaterasu would revoke their gift.

"The major rule that I've been talking about is that we're limited in the amount of help we can give our mortal offspring. I can give you a few minor gifts, but that's it. I'm not allowed to help you directly."

"That's fine," said Ranma. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little disappointed that my abilities are not purely from training."

"In some sense they are, Son," she assured him. "If you didn't do anything, your talents would languish. It's true that skill comes easier to you, but that's true of everyone. People are born with talents that they have to develop. You were just born with more potential than most."

"Will I become a god like you?" he asked.

"It's possible," she said. "Eight of my offspring have, but all but two of them have faded away due to boredom. Those six are why I have so many domains—too many. They ascended and then faded, at which point their domains defaulted to me." She stared sternly at Ranma. "If I ever even catch an inkling that you're going to dump another domain on me by ascending and then fading, I'll make sure you end up as the God and Goddess of Gender Changes."

Ranma blanched. "If I ascend, I'll make sure I mean it," he said fervently.

His mother smiled and nodded. "Good. About marrying Kasumi. . ."

"I'll think about it tonight, but if she really needs me, I don't think I can say no."

"That's all I ask. Just remember that if either of you two doesn't want to, I'll give you an out—no matter what your fathers say. Also, please don't tell anyone who I am. If you do marry Kasumi, you can tell her, but no one else, please."


	2. Chapter 2: Agreement

**Author's Note:** The Athena style note about Kasumi's parentage simply means that she was created without being born traditionally-not that she burst out of Hestia's head.

* * *

The next day was Kasumi's birthday. The families were getting together in the evening to celebrate, but Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki still had school. Ranma and Akane were in their second year, while Nabiki was in her third and final year. Ranma had been pensive all day.

"Hey, Jerk," said Akane as they walked home. "Something bothering you?"

"Yeah, Tomboy," he replied. "I need to talk to you about something my mom asked me to do yesterday."

Even though they had decided they wouldn't get married, he felt like he should talk about marrying Kasumi with his "most official" fiancée. A few months ago he would have put it off, but he figured that talking with Akane about it alone would be less painful as she was less likely to overreact without an audience.

They made their way to a park where they each sat on adjacent swings.

"My mom asked me about what I felt about all of my fiancées yesterday, including your sisters."

"Huh," she responded. "What'd you say?"

"I told her that I thought of you, Kasumi, and Uchan as sisters and that I didn't want to marry anyone right now."

"Not Nabiki?" Akane asked with a cheeky smile.

Ranma rolled his eyes.

"How'd she take it?" Akane asked. "She's always seemed pretty hungry for grandkids."

Ranma hesitated, then said, "I think that was mainly an act. I think she just likes to stir things up to stop from being bored."

Akane was flabbergasted. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She said she never was going to inforce the seppuku contract. That she just used it to keep Pop in line."

"Huh."

Ranma hesitated again before saying, "She wants me to marry Kasumi, but says she'll run interference with the fathers if either of us really objects."

"Really? Kasumi? Why?" Akane asked—part interested and part irritated.

"She says that Kasumi will be getting some news today that will make her go to America soon. That she'll be in danger because some protection will be expiring today. She's fond of Kasumi and wants me to protect her."

"Did she say what the news was?" she asked.

He shook his head. "She said we'd find out today."

"How'd she know?"

"I'm not sure, but she seemed much more resourceful than Pop could ever know."

They both sat in silence. Finally, Ranma said, "Would you be okay with it if I did marry Kasumi?"

Akane sighed. "Yes and no. On the one hand, we've talked about how we don't think it would be good for us to actually be married. I would miss you if you dropped out of my life, so being my brother-in-law is ideal. On the other hand, you've been my fiancée for almost a year and we've done so much together—I don't really want to give that closeness up. What do you think?"

"About the same. As far as Kasumi goes, I like her, but I've never thought of her like that."

"You going to do it?" she asked softly.

He sighed. "I think so, if my mom is right about her situation and she'll go along with it."

"You better treat my sister right, Jerk, or you'll regret it." She glowered at him.

He smirked at her. "As if I could treat Kasumi any other way without hating myself, Tomboy."

"Hah, you better not let those floozies hang all over you once you're married." She paused. "What _are_ you going to do about the other fiancées?"

"The only other one I owe an explanation to before the fact is Uchan. I'll explain things to the Amazons after."

"You worried about the Amazons?" she asked.

"Not really. If I tell them that my mother favors the marriage to Kasumi, there's not a lot they can do, since Amazon Law gives a lot of authority to mothers. They also have to know that if they hurt her, I'll go on a rampage." He paused to think for a moment. "My mom offered to adopt Uchan if her father gave her any problems. Maybe she can do the same to Shampoo, if she can't go back to her village without me."

"What about your father? I can see him engaging either of them to a bunch of guys."

"Mom said that she could shield Uchan from Pop. I trust her. I also trust her to be able to handle the Amazons. She's much more formidable than I thought."

Akane looked doubtful, but said, "Okay."

* * *

That evening the Tendou and Saotome families had a quiet birthday celebration for Kasumi. Ranma noticed that Kasumi was abnormally distracted all evening. Her father, Soun, was also affected. Ranma guessed that Kasumi had been told whatever it was.

After the gifts had been given, Soun said, "I have an announcement."

When most everyone had quieted down, Soun continued, "Kasumi will be leaving us to go to America within the week."

"What? Why?" asked Nabiki.

"Kasumi's mother's family has requested it," he said.

"What?" Akane said. "You make it sound as if Kasumi has a different mother than us."

"She does."

Kasumi's sisters looked shocked. Kasumi herself looked resigned. Ranma wondered if she'd always known or if she'd found out earlier today.

"If her family wants her now, why haven't they appeared before?" Akane asked.

"Kasumi's mother did something to hide her from them. It expired today," said their father.

"Like magic?" Akane asked.

Her father nodded.

"Is Kasumi's mother still alive?" asked Nabiki.

"Yes, but I haven't seen her since shortly after Kasumi's birth."

"Why not?" asked Akane, angry on her sister's behalf.

Soun sighed. "She told me that her family has rules on how much they can involve themselves in their children's lives. It's always left to the other parent to raise the child."

Ranma's eyes flicked to his mother. The Shinto pantheon had similar rules, but they didn't sound as strict. Ranma wondered if Kasumi's mom was like his. From what his mom had said the previous day, she might be.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," said Nabiki, "and considering who lives with us, that's saying something."

"Hestia said that her brother was very strict in enforcing the rules," said Soun. "She said her brother was very powerful and had a temper. From what little I saw of her, if her brother was more powerful. . ."

"What did this Hestia do?" Nabiki asked.

Soun hesitated, but then said, "She created Kasumi out of thin air."

Everyone's jaw dropped, except for Ranma's mother who continued to sip her tea calmly.

"What?!" Kasumi said, startled. "You didn't tell me this!"

"Maybe you ought to tell us the whole story, Daddy," said Nabiki.

"Very well," said Soun. "It started twenty years ago today. At the time I was dating Nabiki and Akane's mother, Kimiko, and living in Chiba. I was on the verge of asking her to marry me. In fact, I had just purchased a ring when I heard a commotion from an alleyway. I went to investigate, when I saw four hoodlums harassing a young redheaded gaijin girl. I intervened and sent them packing.

"The girl thanked me. She said that she could have taken care of it, but that it would have ruined her vacation. She asked me if there was anything she could do for me. I declined, saying that I didn't think there was. She persisted and asked me what I wanted most in the world. I told her I wanted a child of my own, thinking it would get her to leave me alone.

"The girl was silent for a long moment. Then she said, 'I've always wanted one too, but long ago I took an oath to remain celibate.'

"I was confused as to why a young girl would take such an oath when she continued, 'My niece, who also took such an oath, still manages it. May I see your hand?'

"Not thinking anything of it I offered her my right hand. She took it in both of hers and appeared to concentrate. A few moments later, she expanded her hands and a small glowing misty figure appeared in them. The figure solidified into a newborn infant girl surrounded in a fire that warmed, but didn't burn.

"She asked me what I would name her and I said, 'Kasumi,' after the mist she had formed from. The girl told me that it was a pretty name. She held out the girl to me and I took her.

"She explained that her name was Hestia and that her brother Zeus enforced ancient laws that required her to give up any children she might have and that I was responsible for raising her. She said that she regretted it, but that there was nothing she could do about it as her brother was much more powerful than she and hot-tempered. She said that she would, however, extend a protection to her until she became an adult. She placed her hand on the baby's head and said a few words in a language that I didn't recognize and then disappeared.

"Not knowing quite what to do, I went and found Kimiko. I somehow managed to explain what had happened to her. Kimiko fell in love with Kasumi almost immediately. I half think that was the reason she agreed to marry me. I don't think she really believed my story, but since we hadn't been dating for nine months, she let it go. Kimiko raised Kasumi as if she were her own, which made me love my dear wife even more. When I returned to Nerima with Kimiko and Kasumi, no one knew that Kimiko was not her mother."

"Wait. . ." said Nabiki. "Zeus? As in the Greek god?"

Her father shrugged. "It's as good an explanation as any. A man claiming to be Kasumi's cousin visited us earlier today. He said his name was Apollo and that it would be best if Kasumi went to a place just outside of New York City to learn how to defend herself as she would start to attract monsters. I explained that I was a master martial artist and could either protect her myself or teach her how to protect herself. He claimed that the monsters would not be affected by mortal weapons or fists and that as his aunt's first child she would attract many now that she was no longer hidden. When I doubted his credentials, he released an aura that was many times greater than the Dread Master and Amazon Elder's auras combined. He was very. . . formidable."

"Did you meet this Apollo too, Kasumi?" asked Akane.

"Yes," she responded, "and as father said, he was very formidable."

"I've met a legitimate god and I'm not talking about Saffron," said Ranma. "It could be true."

"When did you meet a god, Saotome?" asked Nabiki. She smiled slyly. "Did she try and seduce you?"

Ranma noticed that Akane was struggling with her temper while his mother looked amused. Even though Akane had more or less renounced her claim, she still had moments of jealousy.

"What!? No! Ew!" he said, feeling a little green.

Everyone save his mother, who just looked more amused, looked at him oddly.

Soun cleared his throat and said, "I detest the thought of sending Kasumi alone to America, but I don't think we can risk not sending her."

"I may have a solution," said Ranma's mother, "but I'll need to talk to Ranma, Kasumi, and Akane alone, first. Please follow me, you three."

Ranma and the girls followed her up to Kasumi's room. "Is it all right if we talk in here, Kasumi?" she asked.

"That would be okay," Kasumi answered.

"Ranma, have you decided about what we talked about yesterday?" his mother asked.

"I'll do it if she's okay with it," he answered.

"You ought to discuss this with Akane while I talk to Kasumi," she told him.

He smirked. "I did it this afternoon. She's mostly okay with it."

"What about the others?" she asked.

"I'll talk to Ukyou if we decide to go through with it. None of the others deserve an explanation at this point."

His mother nodded. "I'm going to talk to Kasumi about my idea first. Could you two make sure we aren't disturbed?"

They both agreed and Kasumi and Nodoka retreated into Kasumi's room.

Akane and Ranma quietly made small talk while his mother and Kasumi talked. Neither of them wanted to discuss the changes that might be coming. After about half an hour, Ranma's mother poked her head out the door and said, "Would you both please come in?"

Ranma followed Akane into the room. Kasumi was sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked slightly frazzled, but otherwise calm.

"I've explained to Kasumi that I think it would be a good idea for her to marry Ranma so that he can accompany her to America," Nodoka said. "Ranma has agreed to this after telling me that Akane and he have decided not to marry."

"Are you sure, Akane?" asked Kasumi. "You and Ranma have been getting along much better."

Akane nodded slowly. "Yes. One of the reasons we _are_ getting along better is due to that agreement. To be honest, I'd rather he marry you than any of the girls currently chasing him. It will be an adjustment, but I'll manage."

"Yeah," Ranma said. "We decided we make a better brother and sister than husband and wife."

"Or just sisters," Akane said snickering.

Ranma made a face, but otherwise ignored her.

"Do you know what's going on with Kasumi's family, Auntie?" Akane asked.

"Only generalities," Nodoka answered. "I know that monsters seek out her cousins and that she's been protected until now due to something her mother did that she, strictly speaking, wasn't supposed to do. I also know that two of her uncles are fighting which makes things difficult for the whole family. I do know that if she goes to America she'll learn how to protect herself, but that it will be difficult for her until she does learn."

"What about what Nabiki said?" Akane asked.

"About them being gods?" Nodoka asked.

Akane nodded.

"I know that they have been thought such by people in the past and that they are long-lived and very powerful. Whether that really makes them gods, who can say?"

"Why does Ranma have to marry her in order to protect her?" Akane asked. "Can't he just accompany her?"

"Even leaving aside the propriety of him accompanying her unmarried," said Nodoka, "Kasumi's family is very insular. They will have a hard time accepting him even if they are married. However, I've reached an agreement with one of her more influential cousins that he may go with her if they marry."

"You know them?" asked Kasumi, surprised.

"I've met your cousin Apollo, since he visits Japan occasionally. I've also corresponded with your Aunt Demeter since we share some similar interests. They both seem like nice people, even if Apollo is a little goofy. The others I only know by reputation."

"Oh," she said, a little disappointed.

Ranma's mother raised an eyebrow. "You were hoping I knew your mother?" she asked.

Kasumi nodded.

"I know of her, and what I know is positive," Nodoka said. "Your family has a council of twelve that governs it. Two of your uncles and two of your aunts along with seven of your cousins and a more distant relative sit on it. Your mother used to, but she gave up the seat to one of your cousins to preserve family harmony. She gained a lot of respect from those 'in the know' then. Your mother and your remaining uncle still have some influence even though they aren't officially on the council."

Kasumi smiled. Ranma smiled too, because that sounded like something that Kasumi would do.

Ranma's mother turned to Akane. "Why don't we let Ranma and Kasumi talk for a little bit, Akane."

"Okay, Auntie," Akane responded.

The two of them left, leaving the two potential fiancés awkwardly silent in the room.

The silence was broken when Kasumi asked, "How do you feel about me, Ranma?"

Ranma squirmed awkwardly. "I like you, Kasumi. You're the only one that has been consistently kind to me. But I've never really thought of marrying you."

She nodded thoughtfully. "So you care about me, but not romantically?"

He felt his face heat up, feeling embarrassed, but nodded.

"To be honest, I feel the same way," she said. "Why are you doing this, then?"

He looked at the floor. "Because I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt and I could have stopped it."

"What about your fiancées?" Kasumi asked.

"I care about Ukyou and Akane as sisters only, same as you. I only played along with Shampoo to give her a chance to figure out a way out of her stupid laws, but she never took it. Mom is going to offer Ukyou, and maybe Shampoo, an honorable way out if their families refuse to see reason."

"Wouldn't you rather marry for love?" asked Kasumi.

Ranma sighed. "It would be nice, but I don't see myself getting the chance with all the craziness in my life. Ideally I'd wait to get married, but honestly I don't see my life getting any better. Any girl that tried to get close to me would be beaten or worse by Shampoo or Ukyou—which is why I'm glad we'll be leaving for America if we get married."

Kasumi's smile dropped for a second before returning.

"Is that why you've never gotten closer to them?" she asked.

"Yes, I like Ukyou, and she's a good friend at times, but her jealousy and possessiveness are a big turnoff. Ultimately, that was also the main reason I backed away from Akane and why we're closer now that she doesn't have as much reason to be that way.

"How about you?" he asked. "I thought you were interested in Dr. Tofu."

Her smile turned pensive. "I was, but he always acted so silly. Finally, I asked him to keep his distance if he couldn't control himself. That's why you haven't seen him as much for a while. Mostly I'm disappointed in him."

They lapsed into silence. Ranma was afraid to ask her whether she would do it or not. He wasn't sure whether he was more afraid of a yes or a no answer.

Finally, Kasumi said, "My life has been full of nothing but duty for my family since my mo . . . step-mother died. Since you won't marry Akane, I will take up the duty. This will be the last duty I do for my father without questioning it."

Ranma looked at the floor. "Kasumi. . ." he started to say.

She reached out and lifted his chin. "Ranma, I may be doing this for duty, but never think that I don't care about you. I think romantic love will come with time. You're a fine young man: loyal, brave, caring, and handsome." She smiled a little wickedly. "You also understand women in a way that no other man I know can."

Ranma turned bright red. Kasumi had been the one to help him when he had had his first period not long after arriving at the Tendou home. _That_ had been utterly humiliating. He had thought he had been dying, since his stupid Panda father had kept him ignorant about such things and he had never been in school long enough to learn there. Luckily, Kasumi had been the only one awake at the time. Anyone else would have taken it way worse. The other lucky thing was that he usually only had them half as often as a normal woman unless he got his curse locked.

Kasumi continued. "You have your faults, but most of them are due to ignorance and I think you'll grow out of a lot of them with some experience. While this is a duty for me, I don't think it will be a hardship. I'm also not sure how I would survive alone in a distant place. It would please me to have you there with me."

Ranma nodded. He could understand. For him, besides the duty to protect Kasumi and marry a Tendou, it was a way to escape from most of the problems in his life with some semblance of his honor intact. He was tired of the fiancée game and this was a way he could end it and escape away to America. The _leaving_ was almost the most attractive part of the deal. He would miss Akane, Ukyou, and his mother, but he needed a break.

"Okay, Kasumi," he said. "Let's go tell the families."

* * *

Ranma's mother and Kasumi's father were both pleased with the arrangement. Akane seemed a little melancholy with the announcement, but tried to appear happy. He could not read Nabiki's reaction. Ironically, it was his father that put up the most resistance. He had no real objection to them marrying, but he tried to argue that they could protect Kasumi here and that they didn't need to go to America. Ranma thought that the old Panda just did not want to lose Kasumi's cooking or his excuse to mooch off the Tendous.

The wedding was set for three days from then at a shrine that his mother knew of. She refused to give out the address ahead of time and said that only the Saotome and Tendou families would be invited. Ranma and Kasumi would leave for America three days after that.

Kasumi made Nabiki promise not to sell the information ahead of time. Ranma was unsure if the promise would hold her, but a promise to her was the only possible thing that might.


	3. Chapter 3: Vows and Gifts

Ranma was pensive for the next two days. He tried not to show it, but the upcoming change in his life was pressing in on him. Currently, he was sitting up on the roof of the Tendou home waiting for it to be closing time at Uchan's Okonomiyaki Shop. He had put this off as long as he could and it was the real reason he was so anxious. He was getting married tomorrow and did not want to risk doing it the day of the wedding.

The only things he could offer Ukyou were the price of the yatai, which thankfully his mother had said she would provide, and the offer of adoption. He did not think it would be enough to save their friendship, but maybe after she cooled down things would be better.

He sighed and stood up and started making his way to the restaurant across the rooftops.

When he entered the shop, there were a few people finishing up, but the shop was pretty empty. Konatsu was cleaning tables and Ukyou was starting to scrape down the grill.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou called. "Let me start one cooking on the grill for you!"

"Hi, Uchan," he responded, trying to maintain his calm. "Hi, Konatsu."

"Ranma-sama," the male kunoichi murmured with a quick bow of his head.

Ranma took in the aroma of grilling okonomiyaki with pleasure. He figured it would be a while before he smelled it again, and not just because he was leaving for America. When she was done grilling it, he plopped down a few bills on the counter.

Ukyou frowned. "You know you don't have to pay, Ranchan."

"I figure, I've abused our friendship long enough, Uchan," he said. "I need to start growing up and taking responsibility for myself."

A tightness developed around Ukyou's eyes. "But when we're married everything that's mine will be yours anyway, right?" she said.

His heart clenched within himself and he said, "I have some good news, Uchan. My mother has said that she would pay for the cost of your yatai with a generous interest rate."

Ukyou's spatula clattered to the floor and the remaining customers fled the restaurant.

"What do you mean, Ranma?" she said. Ranma noticed the lack or her normal nickname for him.

"I mean that I'm taking responsibility and cleaning up the mess Pop made of my life. I'm returning your dowry so that some semblance of honor can be kept. I know that this is not what want to hear, but eventually I hope that we can be friends again."

She stared at him angrily. "I thought I was your cute fiancée!"

He sighed. "You are cute, Ukyou, but I've decided that I will not marry any of the girls that fought over me like a prize."

She temporized. "I can understand you not wanting to get married now. But you don't have to pay back the yatai, now. I can wait for you to be ready."

He shook his head. "I am getting married—within the next week—just not to any of the girls that chased me."

"What!? But it's not just the yatai! You owe me for the ten years I was forced to pretend to be a boy!" she said angrily.

He sighed. "This is one of the reasons I never seriously considered marrying you. You blame me for something that wasn't my fault."

"Not your fault!" she said angrily. "You left me by the side of the road!"

He shook his head. "I was six, Ukyou! I thought you were a boy! I didn't even know what a girl was, except that Pop said they were weak. There was no way my buddy Uchan could be a weak girl. When you came back I didn't want to ruin our renewed relationship by denying the engagement, but marrying my buddy always felt weird.

"Now my Pop is a liar, but one time when he was drunk and feeling good, I asked him about what had happened when we were little. He told me that your father proposed the engagement, but Pop refused telling him about the Tendou engagement. Your father persisted and offered the yatai as a dowry and Pop folded like the weak fool that he is. It seems to me that your father has a problem if he blamed you for not being able to hold an engagement as a six-year old when Pop was shown to be willing to toss them aside at the slightest bribe." He was getting worked up. "I'm the one that should be furious here. All the engagements are your father's fault for putting the idea into Pop's fool head!"

Ukyou's eyes were starting to water. "Get out," she said quietly.

Ranma's anger vanished. "Look, I'm sorry for getting worked up. I'm just tired of getting blamed for everything that Pop or anyone else does. I just got to say one more thing and then I'll leave. My mom has offered to adopt you if your father doesn't relent and allow you to be registered as a girl. She says that she would have sole authority, so that Pop couldn't do something stupid to you."

He turned to leave. "Bye Ukyou. I'm sorry that this hurts you. I hope we can be friends again someday."

As his hand touched the door, Ukyou said, "Wait. Who are you marrying?"

He smiled wanly. "Kasumi. I'd like to invite you to the wedding, but after the last time we're doing family only." He didn't bring up what she had done then.

"Kasumi?" she asked, confused. "Do you love her?"

"Not in the way you're asking, but I do. This is my escape from the madness and she needs some help for something that has come up for her suddenly. We'll be leaving the country for a while, not long after the wedding. I don't know when we'll be back, but I expect we will, at least to visit. Take care of yourself, Uchan."

He walked out of the door.

* * *

The wedding was in a quiet shrine of Inari, just outside of Tokyo. Ranma wondered what the priest would do if he knew whom he was hosting. They had decided on a traditional Shinto wedding, so Ranma was wearing a kimono. He was feeling washed out and unresponsive. He was making a very big commitment, because he thought he ought to—not because it was something he really wanted for himself.

Kasumi walked in with her father looking very beautiful and serene in her kimono. They waited while the priest purified the altar. Ranma nervously went through the sake-sharing ceremony with Kasumi. Only his skill as a marital artist kept him from spilling it. He nervously said their vows and then the two of them left their offering on the shrine after the priest had done so. After their families had left their offerings, the two of them exchanged rings. His mother had offered to buy them fancy rings, but he had refused. He had about 30,000 yen saved that he had managed to hide from his father and Nabiki that he had used to buy a simple gold ring with a ruby solitaire. He figured that Kasumi would appreciate a simple ring that he had bought himself more than a fancy ring he could have had his mother buy. He got the idea that his mother was also pleased with his choice. The ring that Kasumi gave him was also simple: a plain gold band. They smiled at each other.

"I like the ring, Ranma," she said quietly. "The color reminds me of your hair."

He blushed a little. The bright red of the ring's gem did match his other form's hair somewhat. "I figured you'd like something unique better than what all the other girls had. I also wanted to buy it myself."

"I got you a necklace for yours that I'll give you later," Kasumi said, "so that you don't have to wear it on your finger. That way it won't get damaged or get in the way during your fights."

"Thanks, Kasumi!" he said.

There was a short reception in the garden outside the shrine, but no additional guests were invited. The fathers were already getting drunk toasting the "joining of the schools." Ranma was at a loss as to why they were so excited. Kasumi did not know the Tendou School of Anything Goes. Even Akane did not, since her father had never taught her anything other than the basics.

After they had eaten a short lunch, Ranma's mother cornered the newlyweds. "I know you two haven't had a lot of time to get used to this, but I recommend that you consummate your marriage before you leave for America so that Kasumi's family can't claim it's a fraud. In fact, I recommend you do it tonight, since if you put it off, it will just be harder to do. Regardless of whether you take that advice, come see me tomorrow or the next day at the place where you met me before, Ranma. I have gifts for the two of you that will help you in America."

Ranma and Kasumi both turned bright red at the advice. They quickly offered their thanks and hugged her goodbye.

They made their goodbyes to the rest of the families. Kasumi hugged her sisters and her father. Ranma and his father punched each other in the shoulder. He exchanged bows with Nabiki and Soun and a hug with Akane.

"Take care of my sister, Jerk," she said.

"I will, Sister," he said with a smile.

"I know you will, Sister," she responded with a smirk.

"Hey!" he said, but he smiled anyway.

* * *

Ranma and Kasumi had taken his mother's advice at Kasumi's insistence. He had enjoyed it and he thought Kasumi had too, once some initial unpleasantness was past. He still was not sure what he thought of her being his wife, but he did know that he did not like the way that other men looked at her as they walked to his mother's house. He was feeling very protective of her. He had always known that Kasumi was attractive, but she had tended to fade into the background of his life in Nerima. Now he was acutely aware of how beautiful she was.

His mother greeted them at the door. "Please come in!"

Kasumi, who had felt been nervous, the whole way there, bowed to his mother and followed him in.

"Please be seated while I make tea," his mother said as she guided them to the front room.

"I can do that, Mother," Kasumi offered. Nodoka had insisted that she start calling her that even before the wedding ceremony.

"Nonsense," Nodoka said, "You're a guest in my home and I still consider it your honeymoon. Please sit down."

She returned a few minutes later with a pitcher of tea and a tray of snacks. She smiled at them. "I hope you are enjoying yourselves so far."

Both newlyweds blushed. Nodoka chuckled lightly. "I'm glad that you took my advice. I've been married multiple times, a few of them arranged marriages, and I find it's best to just jump right in."

"Uh, Mother," Kasumi said nervously, "Ranma said that you are Inari Oukami. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is, but I would prefer that you treat me as a normal mother-in-law. I prefer to be out among people without the tedious ceremony that happens when people treat me as a god."

"But. . ." Kasumi started.

Nodoka shook her head. "I have more shrines in Japan than even Amaterasu. I don't need worship from you, Kasumi. I'd rather be a mother to you, or at least an aunt."

"Have you always been a god, Mom?" Ranma asked.

She shook her head. "I was born human. It's possible I could have a divine parent or ancestor, but none ever claimed me. I was, however, the one that introduced rice to Japan and created sake. My legend grew after that and things snowballed out of control, in my opinion."

"What about the other gods?" asked Kasumi.

"Amaterasu and her siblings claim that their parents, Izanagi and Izanami, created the islands of Japan and came into existence spontaneously with a few others following the creation of the world by the Kotoamatsukami. Since I came after that, I don't know which creation myth, if any, are true."

She looked at Kasumi. "You should know that your mother's family _are_ the Greek gods. They have their own creation myth. It ignores the other pantheons, so I doubt that it's exactly right, but parts of it might be."

She turned to Ranma, "You should know that other gods are not as laid back as me. The Greeks, Kasumi's family, are particularly proud. If you mouth off to one, they're likely to do something drastic. You being my son will shield you very little."

"Drastic how?" Ranma asked, curious.

"Zeus is fond of lightning bolts, but all of them are fond of transformation curses."

Ranma grimaced. One transformation curse was enough.

"I called you here, however, to give you my gifts." She smiled. "First, for your wedding presents, I have a translation charm for each of you." She gave them each a necklace. "These charms will allow you to speak and understand any earthly language. I've also added an additional charm to it that will allow you to be able to read English and Ancient Greek."

"Thanks, Mom," Ranma said. "That helps a lot. I don't know about Kasumi, but my English isn't great."

"My English is good for a Japanese High School graduate," said Kasumi, "but I've always been bad at reading it."

Nodoka nodded. "That's actually quite common for Greek demigods. You are wired for Greek and it makes reading other scripts difficult. The only reason you don't have a problem with Japanese is that you are a distant descendent of mine."

"Really?" she said looking at Ranma. "But. . ."

"It was over 300 years ago, Kasumi. Don't worry about it," Nodoka said calmly. "The other thing that Greek demigods have to worry about according to Apollo is that they have a difficulty concentrating on many common tasks."

"Oh," said Kasumi, "I did have that problem, but I managed to train myself to overcome it. It still happens sometimes when I try something new." She giggled. "I was as bad as Akane at cooking when I first started, but once I got started it seemed to click."

"A gift from your mother, I think," said Ranma's mother. "Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth, Architecture, and Domesticity.

"Ranma," she said, "your charm will also change your clothing to fit you, no matter what form you're in."

"It won't put me in dresses, will it?" he asked suspiciously.

"It will change your clothes to the equivalent of what you're wearing," she explained. "It shouldn't change them to skirts or dresses unless you're wearing formal clothes or a uniform where the equivalent female version includes a skirt." She stared at her son. "I'm tired of my 'daughter' running around in ill-fitting clothes with her chest bouncing all over the place."

Ranma wanted to complain, but it would be nice to wear clothes that fit. It sounded like it would put him in girl's underwear, which made him uncomfortable, but he did agree that it would be nice to not have that part of him bounce when he ran.

"The second gift I have for you are these," she said. She handed Ranma a ring and Kasumi bracelet.

"I can't wear a ring, Mom, because of the curse and the Art," Ranma said. "In fact, I'll be wearing my wedding ring on a necklace."

She smiled. "This is a special ring, Ranma. It will adjust size when you change shape. Put it on."

She waited for him to do so and then said, "Turn it to the right."

Ranma turned it and knuckledusters appeared on both hands. He started.

"Most of the monsters that you will encounter in America are immune to ordinary physical damage. These knuckledusters are made of a special steel alloy called Heavenly Steel that will disrupt the magic that powers them. The Greeks like to use something they call Celestial Bronze, which does the same thing." She smiled. "I cast these myself. I used to be the God of Blacksmiths until one of my sons took that domain over from me. If you turn the ring back, the knuckledusters will disappear. If you turn the ring to the right, the knuckledusters will have claw-like blades on them."

Ranma tried it and three blades sprouted from between his fingers.

"Your bracelet, Kasumi, is actually a gift from your mother that Apollo passed on to me. Evidently, it's customary for a Greek god to give their child a gift when they claim them, which inspired me to prepare Ranma's gift. If you remove your bracelet, it will change into a Celestial Bronze skillet. You can change it back by twisting the handle. Your mother thought you would like it and it doubles as a club if monsters or your husband get out of line." She smirked.

"Thank you, Mother," Kasumi said.

Ranma rolled his eyes. He would be worried if it were Akane, but he could barely imagine Kasumi using it on him.

"Both of these gifts are charmed to reappear on you when no one is paying attention, if you lose them.

"My next gift is a double-edged sword. I won't feel bad if you refuse it." She looked at Ranma. "I can give you control over your curse."

"You can!?" he said, excitedly. "How is that double edged?"

She sighed. "I'm limited as to the power of the gifts I can give you without you having done a service for me. I can change the trigger of your curse, but not its effect. There are secondary effects of your curse to get you to spend half your time in your cursed form. This is why you attract water. If I make your trigger voluntary, you will have to spend half your time as a woman. If you spend more than 24 hours as a man, you will lose control of your curse and have to spend the next 24 hours as a woman. I would recommend spending 12 hours each day in each form, if you accept the gift. That way you won't build up 'karmic debt.' If you accept control, you will probably actually spend more time as a woman than you do now."

"Does sleeping count toward the time?" Ranma asked.

"It does, but you should ask your wife how she feels about that," his mother said.

"I don't mind," said Kasumi. "I'm not comfortable being intimate with you as a woman, but sleeping next to you that way is fine."

"Can I think about it?" Ranma asked.

His mother nodded. "Simply let me know what you decide.

"I also owe you a boon, for deciding to do the service I asked of you a few days ago."

Ranma thought she must be talking about marrying Kasumi, but didn't want to say so in Kasumi's presence.

"Can you remove my curse completely?" he asked, hopefully.

She shook her head. "I'm not going to."

"Why not?" he asked, growing irritated.

"Because I think it's good for you in that it helps you overcome the silly attitudes toward women your father taught you, but, more importantly, because I think the boon is better employed elsewhere."

"The Cat Fist," Kasumi whispered.

His mother nodded. "If there's one thing I regret your father doing to you more than anything, it's that. I can't remove it completely for the boon that you've earned, but I will make it so that you don't lose consciousness and I'll mute your 'fight or flight' instinct. This will make you nervous and anxious around them instead of terrified. You'll still enter the Cat Fist if you're around them too much, but you'll be able to remember what happened while you are under the influence and your 'cat self' will have more of your conscious mind and morality in it. At some point you may be able to eventually control it completely and train yourself to come out of it on your own."

Ranma grimaced. While he did not exactly hate the curse as much as he let people think, he would still rather be rid of it. However, he hated losing control of himself to the Cat Fist quite a bit more.

"Alright, I agree that solving my major Cat Fist issues is more important than the annoyance of my curse."

His mother smiled at him and placed her hand on his forehead. Her hand glowed momentarily and she said, "It's done."

He returned the smile and said, "Thanks, Mom."

* * *

Ranma and Kasumi were currently staying at a hotel while they were waiting to go to America. On their way back, a small rain shower lasted just long enough to activate Ranma's curse.

Ranma grimaced. "I guess it's been too long since my curse last activated."

When they got back to their hotel room, both the electronic tea kettle and the hot water in their bathroom were malfunctioning.

Ranma sighed. "This is one of the things I hate the most about the curse. It somehow interferes in my life to force me to be a girl when I don't want to be."

"Do you ever _want_ to be a girl?" Kasumi asked, interested.

Ranma looked at her wife. She did not appear to be looking to condemn her. She sighed. "It's not so much that I _want_ to be a girl sometimes, as much that sometimes I don't mind it." She grinned. "Although, ice cream tastes better as a girl."

"Really?" Kasumi asked dubiously.

"Well, it does to me," Ranma responded.

"I think that might be psychosomatic."

"Huh?"

Kasumi giggled. "It means it's all in your mind, Ranma."

Ranma frowned. "Isn't a lot of taste personal preference?"

"I would think so, but I wouldn't expect yours to change."

"All of my senses are a little bit different when I'm a girl, but usually it's a small change—there's just something about ice cream."

Kasumi giggled. "Okay. I believe you."

For some reason those words made her feel good. It seemed like nobody ever believed her. Even though it was a small thing they were talking about, it was still stuck out to her.

"What aspects of your curse do you hate the most?" Kasumi asked.

"Things like right now when it conspires to break my life. I'd like a warm bath because I'm cold, but I can't because the curse doesn't want me to be a man. I hate always being wet. I hate that it always choses the worst time to activate. Most of all, I hate how people treat me like a freak or a pervert when they find out about it."

"So it's not actually being a girl that bothers you?" Kasumi asked.

"To tell you the truth, I barely notice it anymore," Ranma admitted.

Kasumi giggled. "You don't notice those huge things on your chest."

"They only look huge because I'm petite," Ranma grumped.

Kasumi had another giggle attack.

"To answer your question," the redhead said once the brunette had calmed down, "I have excellent awareness of my body because of my martial arts, it just doesn't register consciously because I'm used to it."

"So, it sounds to me that taking your mother's offer would eliminate the things you hate most about the curse."

"I guess. I think the time-sharing requirement will still make it so people find out, especially if we have to share rooms with others at the camp we're going to."

"At least they'll be used to the supernatural," Kasumi said.

"So are people in Nerima," Ranma pointed out.


	4. Chapter 4: The Kiss of Death

Ranma, currently female, was making her way toward that Nekohanten. She had decided to take her mother up on the offer of control of her curse. The actual procedure was as simple as the one that gave her more control of the Cat Fist. She was currently wearing a version of her normal Chinese silks tailored for her female body, complete with women's underwear. She did have to admit, to herself, that it felt better, but she would never admit it to anyone else—except for maybe Kasumi, if only because she knew that Kasumi would not do more than engage in some gentle teasing.

She had mapped out a plan to deal with the Amazons this morning with a little bit of feedback from her mother. She admitted to herself that there was some chance that it would backfire and she would have to do something she really did not want to do, but she figured it had a better chance of working than just going in and telling them "no."

She stopped before the entrance to the Nekohanten, squared her shoulders, and then entered.

She was greeted by the cry of "Airen, you come to take Shampoo on date, yes?"

Ranma replied, "No, Shampoo. I've come to talk to you and Elder Cologne."

Shampoo frowned momentarily and then flounced to the back. "Follow me, Airen. We talk in back room."

She followed the Amazon girl into the kitchen.

"Hello, Son-in-Law," said Cologne.

"Hello, Elder," Ranma responded. "Do you have time to talk?" She'd purposely come during the lull between lunch and dinner.

"I suppose. What do you want to talk about, Son-in-law?" the crone responded.

Ranma smirked. "I've come to negotiate the cancellation of the Kiss of Death."

Cologne fell off her staff. Ranma's smirk deepened.

"Err, don't you mean the Kiss of Marriage?" asked Cologne when she had regained her feet.

"If you're doing a two-for-one deal, sure, but no, I mean the Kiss of Death. I've decided that I'll only interact with the Amazons as a woman. I have no desire to be treated as if I were second class."

"You don't have a choice, Son-in-law," the old crone said. She flung some ramen broth at her. Ranma could have dodged it, but let it hit her. She remained a she.

When she had experimented earlier, she had still changed with water. Her mother told her it was because she had been expecting to change. With practice, she had stopped changing with only a minimal amount of focus.

"Airen is locked?" asked Shampoo, upset.

"Not exactly," said Ranma. "I've got control over my curse. But like I said, I'll only interact with the Amazons as a woman."

"Airen share secret with wife?" Shampoo asked.

Ranma bit back a response about who his wife really was. "I don't think the solution will work for you, Shampoo. It requires spending a large amount of time in your cursed form."

"How much?" Cologne asked.

"At least half," answered Ranma. She did not want to admit that if the Amazons captured her she would have to change back to a man eventually.

"So you've decided to get in touch with your feminine side, Son-in-law?" Cologne asked.

Ranma shrugged. "I've decided it was better than not having control. Is it really appropriate to be calling a woman that, Elder?"

"From what you've said, you're still half man," the Amazon countered.

"How are you going to make me change?" Ranma countered.

"You really prefer the Kiss of Death?" Cologne asked with an arched brow.

"Shampoo isn't capable of killing me unless she gets insanely lucky," Ranma said. In a quiet voice she added, "And if she tries, I'll cripple her." It sickened her to say it and she really did not want to do it, but she had responsibilities now.

Shampoo gasped.

"That's a lot harsher than I've come to expect from you, Ranma," Cologne said in a steady voice.

"I've decided that it's time for me to grow up and the time for games to be over. I would really rather not do it, but I'd hate to dodge lethal blows over something so stupid as a tournament loss even more."

"Amazon law. . ." Cologne started.

"Do you think I care about Amazon law while she's trying to kill me?" interrupted Ranma.

"Husband, why you do this?" Shampoo asked.

"I'm not your husband, Shampoo. To be a recognized marriage by either Japan or China, it has to be consensual."

"You consented during the mess with the Reversal Jewel," Cologne stated.

"I'm cancelling the engagement. A marriage isn't legal in either country unless its signed on paper in front of witnesses."

"A man cannot cancel Amazon contracts," Cologne said.

"I don't accept that, but even so, I _am_ a woman."

"Not legally," Cologne said.

She smirked and took out her government-issued ID card and showed them. It listed her as female. It was a side-effect of her clothes-changing charm.

"Why you do this?" Shampoo repeated. "Shampoo not treat you well? Make good food for you?"

She sighed. "Shampoo, you do make good food, but you did not treat me well. You drugged me, magicked me, and harassed me. That doesn't include the months you spent chasing me down, trying to kill me. You and the other girls all treated me as a prize to be won. I don't believe you love me."

"Not true. Shampoo love husband," she protested.

She shook her head. "You don't love me. You love the idea of me. If you loved me, you would have been interested in what I wanted."

Shampoo looked crushed.

"Look, Shampoo," Ranma said. "I like you. When you're not trying to entrap me, you're fun to be with. I wouldn't mind being your friend, but I don't want anything else from you. I never have. I only challenged you when you wore the Reversal Jewel because I couldn't stand the thought of you hating me. I have so few friends that I didn't want to lose any.

She looked between Shampoo and Cologne. "Do we have any room to negotiate?"

Cologne just started at her.

"You mean to tell me that someone's death is the only outcome when the Kiss of Death is given? That's pretty short sighted, if you ask me."

"The Kiss of Death is not required, but Shampoo was overzealous," Cologne said finally. "Once it is given, however, it cannot be canceled—only superseded by the Kiss of Sisterhood or, in rare cases, by the Kiss of Marriage."

"The Kiss of Sisterhood sounds good," said Ranma. "My mom said she was willing to adopt Shampoo if she got exiled. How do we do it and what does it mean? I'll do it as long as it doesn't mean that I'm required to live in your village or abide by your rules, because I don't agree with a lot of them."

"No," said Cologne. "While it's encouraged, it's not required for the recipient to become an Amazon. However, if it's decided that the Kiss was received under false pretenses, the Kiss of Death is reinstated and the whole village is encouraged to hunt down the pretend sister."

"What counts as a false pretense?" Ranma asked.

"Not giving aid, betrayal, things of that nature," Cologne said.

"Ah, no problem," said Ranma. "I said I wanted to be your friend." She smiled at Shampoo. "What are the rules for receiving the Kiss of Sisterhood?"

"You must go through a difficulty together and overcome it together," said Cologne.

Ranma smiled. "Great! Any number of things would count: the Ghost Cat, Jusendo, lots of stuff!"

She noticed that Shampoo was sniffling. "It was supposed to be too, too romantic story. Village champion wins powerful man to bring home and make lots of daughters."

"I never wanted to hurt you, Shampoo, but I can't give you what you want. Would being my sister be so bad?"

Shampoo smiled wryly. "Not bad, just not best. You tell Shampoo what you want and we try engagement again?"

Ranma sighed. "It's too late, Shampoo. I was married a couple of days ago to the only girl around here who didn't treat me like a prize."

She saw Shampoo's fists clench. "Before you start talking about obstacles, Shampoo, if anything happens to her, I'll return the favor 10 times to your village. You don't even want to know what would happen if she died by your hand." Ranma's eyes bored into Shampoo's.

"Not Kitchen Destroyer?" Shampoo asked.

"No," Ranma replied with a smirk. "Too Too Nice Girl."

Shampoo stared at the floor moodily. Cologne, who had contented herself with listening for a while, spoke up. "Take her offer, Great Granddaughter. You won't find a better or more loyal sister than Ranma."

Shampoo smirked. "Is true. Ranma good friend, but lousy fiancé."

Ranma chuckled guiltily and rubbed the back of her head. "I can't argue with that."

Shampoo leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. " _Sister_ ," she said in Mandarin.

Impishly, Ranma returned the favor, kissing Shampoo's forehead and repeating in Mandarin, " _Sister_."

Shampoo said, "How you know to return Kiss of Sisterhood?"

Ranma chuckled and scratched the back of her head again. "Lucky guess?"

Ranma became serious. "Kasumi found out recently that she's only Akane and Nabiki's half-sister. Her real mother's family needs her to go to America for a while and I'm going with her. I don't know when we'll be back, but I expect we will. Are you going to stay here or will you be going back to China?"

Shampoo looked at Cologne. "Shampoo not ready to go back to Joketsuzoku. Go with sister?"

Ranma shook her head. "Evidently Kasumi's uncle, the leader of her mother's family, doesn't much like outsiders. They're barely letting me come with her. They probably wouldn't, even with the marriage, except that my mom has a lot of influence—lots more than Pop knows or I thought."

Shampoo laughed. "Panda Man not very smart except in martial arts."

Ranma laughed. "True, true. Listen, if things work out, I'll keep in touch via letter. There's a chance that we'll be cut off from stuff like that though. Her family is seriously Old School."

"Okay, Great Granddaughter," Cologne said. "We look forward to hearing about your new adventures."

* * *

Ranma walked back to her mother's house where Kasumi was waiting for her. When she arrived, she changed back to a he. Her clothes changed to his. He stretched glad to be rid of her bra. It honestly felt better than being unrestrained as a her, but he was still not used to it.

"I'm back," he called.

"How'd it go?" Kasumi called.

"Pretty well," he answered. "Shampoo gave me the Kiss of Sisterhood, which officially replaced the Kiss of Death. They didn't specifically say anything about the Kiss of Marriage, but I don't see how I can be both a sister and a husband. Cologne even started calling me Great Granddaughter instead of Son-in-law."

"Excellent," said his mother. She glanced at a wall clock and said, "It will be a few hours before Apollo arrives to talk to you."

"What do you think he'll say?" asked Ranma.

"Apollo is actually pretty laid back for a Greek. He's also fond of Japanese culture, so as long as you don't make yourself too annoying, he should sponsor your attendance at Camp Half Blood."

Kasumi giggled. "Do you think you can control your foot-in-mouth disease, Ranma?" she asked.

Ranma frowned. Secretly he was glad that Kasumi was loosening up around him. Her sense of humor was surprisingly similar to Nabiki's minus the mercenary's cruelty—she usually hid it though. "I'll have you know that I've already had my weekly allotment of foot."

Kasumi giggled some more.

* * *

At the pre-indicated time, they heard a knock on the door. His mother answered the door. She escorted a blond-haired man dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

"Hello, Cousin Apollo," Kasumi said.

"Hello, Little Cousin," Apollo said. "I don't mind if you call me that, because I'm cool, but I should warn you that some of my siblings, aunts, and uncles would take offense if a demigod called them cousin, aunt, or uncle."

"Does that mean that our family isn't a family?" Kasumi said, frowning.

"I wouldn't quite say that," said Apollo. "It's more that our family has a very clear hierarchy and that your relationship with your parent far exceeds that to the extended family. You will be seen more as a daughter of Hestia more than as a niece by my father and his brothers. Luckily for you, almost everyone likes your mother.

"So this is your husband?" he asked, looking at Ranma. "That was a short engagement."

"My mortal husband made an agreement with Kasumi's father when Ranma was born that he would marry Kasumi or one of her sisters," his mother said. "It had been assumed that Ranma would marry the youngest, but they decided that they were not compatible. Since Ranma gets along with Kasumi, but not her remaining sister, both of them agreed to honor the arrangement."

"I smell your meddling in this, Inari," Apollo commented.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Kasumi is a distant legacy of mine through her father and I am fond of her. My son is also fond of her as well and we were both worried about throwing someone as kind and gentle as Kasumi into a new and difficult environment without help."

"I am not helpless, Mother," Kasumi said, blushing.

"I know you aren't, Kasumi," her mother-in-law said, "but the chaos here has just swirled around you. I fear that it won't in America. Ranma will keep you safe while you catch your bearings."

"So you think you can protect your wife, Kid?" Apollo asked.

"Sure," Ranma said. His cockiest grin slipped out. "I've been training and fighting since I could walk."

"Fighting minotaurs and harpies is different than fighting humans, Kid," Apollo said.

"What are those?" Ranma asked.

"A minotaur is kind of like Taro's cursed form, without the wings or tentacles," Kasumi offered. "Harpies are kind of like the Phoenix people, except without arms or hygiene."

"Oh, is that all?" Ranma said, confidently. "Should be easy."

"Can he back that up, Inari?" Apollo asked.

"Yes, for the most part," his mother said. "He should be able to fight off most monsters and even some of what your people call minor gods."

"Interesting," Apollo said. "It should be fun to watch. I'll approve you going to Camp Half Blood with your wife. However, my sponsorship will be pretty limited. If you cheese off my dad or anyone else in the Dodekatheon, I won't cover for you."

"Thank you, Apollo," Nodoka said. Kasumi and Ranma also thanked him.

"I have your Record of Birth to a US Citizen Abroad, Little Cousin, as well as your US Passport." He handed the documents to Kasumi.

"I also got you a Visa using the Passport your mother provided, Kid." He handed a Japanese passport to Ranma.

"I'll give you your birth certificates and Kasumi's Japanese passport later," Ranma's mother said. "You'll want to keep them all in a safe spot." Ranma had learned how to make ki pockets from watching Mousse. He figured that was the safest spot for them.

"I didn't realize I was an American," Kasumi said faintly.

"Dual citizen," said Apollo with a smirk.

"Thanks for the tea, Inari," he said. "It's always a pleasure. See you, Inari, Little Cousin, Kid." With that, the Greek god left.

"I want you to be careful, Ranma," said his mother. "Even Apollo has a temper and the other Greeks are much worse. I can protect you a little if they make unreasonable demands, but if you purposely offend one of them, there's not much I can do."

"How are they that powerful, Mom?" said Ranma. "I didn't think anyone worshipped them anymore. Aren't most Americans Christian? I'd bet that you have more active worshippers in America than they do."

"It's true that they don't have many worshippers," his mother said, "but Greece was the birthplace of Western Civilization and the respect that Americans and Europeans pay to their origins and basic ideals grants them power. It also helps them that many Greek concepts were incorporated into Christianity. Modern Christianity owes as much to Aristotle as it does to Moses."

Ranma did not recognize those names, but he figured they were important to Americans.

"Since I do have worshippers there, I can make things difficult for them, but I have rules that I'm bound by and I can't interfere with their legitimate business." She smiled at him. "Please try not to do anything too stupid."

"Why does everyone think I'm stupid?" Ranma complained.

"Do you want a list, Son?" Nodoka teased.

Kasumi tried to cover her giggles.


	5. Chapter 5: Camp Half Blood

The plane ride to La Guardia Airport in New York City was long. They had a four-hour layover in Los Angeles where they went through customs. Ranma had traveled as a woman so that he would have more time as a man when they arrived. Luckily they had First-Class tickets next to each other. The two of them ducked into a family restroom in La Guardia so that Ranma could change.

When they exited past the security checkpoints, they saw an odd man holding a sign reading "Kasumi Saotome" in Latin letterring. The man had eyes all over the exposed portions of his body. Ranma noticed that no one was reacting to him, so he shrugged and ignored it.

"Hello, I'm Kasumi Saotome and this is my husband, Ranma," Kasumi told the man in English.

The man nodded and handed her a business card. Ranma looked over her shoulder. It simply read:

Argus  
Camp Half Blood

"We need to get our luggage," Ranma said.

The man, Argus, simply nodded and followed them to the baggage carousel. While they were waiting, Kasumi tried to engage Argus in small talk, but the man remained mute. After their baggage arrived, the man motioned for them to follow him. Ranma hefted his and Kasumi's suitcases onto his shoulders and followed him.

He idly noticed that people were ignoring him. Usually he caught at least a few odd glances when he performed feats of strength. Argus led them to a van and stowed the luggage. They muddled through traffic until they exited the city into a well-groomed country-side. According to the map he had looked at before coming, the airport was on Long Island, so they must still be on the same island.

Eventually, they drove onto a dirt road that was bordered by a short plant that he did not initially recognize, but something told him they were strawberries. He had always been able to instinctively recognize domestic plants, for some reason, especially food crops. They pulled up next to a large house. A short distance from the house, cabins were arranged in a U shape. They were all designed differently, but most of them were quite fancy looking.

They exited the van and Argus unloaded their luggage. A man in a wheelchair was waiting for them.

"My name is Chiron," he said. "I'm the Activities Director for Camp Half Blood. I assume you are Kasumi and Ranma Saotome?"

"That's right," Kasumi said. "It's nice to meet you, Chiron." She bowed to him. Ranma hastily followed suit.

"We have another new camper that is recovering inside," said Chiron, "but I understand he's awakened. He should be joining us momentarily."

"What's he recovering from?" asked Kasumi.

"Ah," said Chiron, hesitating, "he got into a fight with a minotaur just outside of camp."

"Isn't that one of those things that's like a weak version of Taro?" Ranma asked his wife.

Kasumi nodded.

"Who or what is Taro?" asked Chiron.

"He's a jerk who fell into the Spring of Drowned Yeti-holding-a-Crane-and-an-Eel-while-riding-an-Ox," said Ranma. "He's pretty tough in his cursed form, but I can take him."

"I heard the words that you said, but I have no idea what that means," said Chiron.

Ranma simply shrugged. He had no desire to explain Jusenkyo.

He was saved by two people exiting the house. One was a young teen with tanned skin and dark hair. The other was a blonde girl about the same age.

"Mr. Brunner!" called the boy.

"Hello, Percy," said Chiron. "You can call me Chiron. It's my real name. These are Kasumi and Ranma Saotome. They're also new campers. Kasumi, Ranma, these are Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Percy is new, but Annabeth has been with us for a while."

Ranma and Kasumi bowed. The two younger teens awkwardly returned it.

"Kasumi and Ranma are from Tokyo, Japan and are newlyweds," Chiron explained.

"If you don't mind," Chiron continued, "I'd like to stretch my legs. My chair gets uncomfortable after a while."

Chiron removed a blanket from his lap and then stood up and stepped out of the chair. His lower body was revealed to be shaped like a horse. The chair was much too small to have contained him. Ranma figured it must act something like a ki pocket.

"Mr. Brunner, you're a centaur!" Percy explained.

"Are you the Chiron of legend that trained Achilles?" asked Kasumi.

"Yes, I am," Chiron said, intrigued. "Do they teach Greek myths in Japan?"

"No," said Kasumi with a smile. "I decided to do some research after I found out about my mother. I read about you, because I was interested in Achilles due to the tendon named after him."

"So these two are related to Kasumi?" asked Ranma.

"Yes, although we can't tell how closely until she and Percy are claimed," Chiron said.

"Claimed?" Percy asked.

"Yes," said Chiron. "All the campers except for Ranma are the sons and daughters of the gods, making them demigods. Ranma received special permission from Apollo to come because of his wife. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena."

"I'm the son of a goddess," said Ranma with a smirk. "Just not a Greek one. We also know who Kasumi's mother is."

"Really? Who?" Chiron said, surprised. He added, "It's customary to let the gods claim their children by a sign, so please don't say who Kasumi's parent is until then."

Ranma heard a clear voice in his head, _I will claim you when it's time, Ranma. Follow their tradition._

 _Mom?_ he tried to respond. _Do you always listen in on me like this?_

 _No,_ she replied. _Just for special occasions like this_.

"I've been instructed to follow the tradition and let my mom claim me," Ranma said.

"Ah, okay," Chiron responded. He looked like he wasn't sure how to take Ranma.

"Do you really expect us to believe that the Greek gods exist?" Percy asked.

The sky overhead seemed to darken in response to the boy's question.

"Such questions are not wise by people like you—especially in places like this," said the centaur. "Are you really in a position to ask that when you fought a minotaur yesterday and are standing before a centaur?"

Percy was looking shell shocked.

A boy with goat feet and horns ran up to them. "Mr. D wants to know why you're talking over here. He wants to start his pinochle game."

"Grover?" said Percy.

"Heh, heh," the goat boy said nervously. "Hi, Percy."

"What happened to your feet? And what are those horns for?" asked Percy.

"I stopped wearing those clunky disguise boots," he replied. "I'm a Satyr, Percy. They've always been like this."

"Let's go introduce you to Mr. D, the Camp Director," said Chiron. "He's a little touchy, so please be respectful."

Ranma followed the others around to the front of the house where a shortish, pudgy man with dark hair and beard was sitting at a table with a stack of cards and a can of soda next to a glass. The man was disagreeable looking, so Ranma ignored him, keeping in mind his mother's warning. He checked the aura of those around him. Everyone's was stronger than normal, but "Mr. D's" was stronger than Saffron's and Ranma could tell it was being restrained. Ranma figured the man was one of the gods or a powerful demigod. In order to not get himself or Kasumi in trouble he restrained himself and let his attention wonder. The man was mostly making jabs at Percy with one or two at Kasumi. He forced himself to rein in his temper.

Finally, the man said, "And this is our 'normal' one? Ronnie?"

Ranma took a moment to realize the man was talking about him. The ass did not even try to get their names right.

He snorted. "The name's Ranma and I've never been accused of being normal before."

The man dismissed him. "Whatever, Reggie."

* * *

Kasumi graciously declined the offer to play pinochle in a way that made it look like Mr. D's idea. Percy was so confused that Mr. D withdrew the offer for him to play. Ranma was not asked, which suited him just fine. The Camp Director rudely instructed the satyr, Grover, to find another player.

"Show Percy, Kasumi, and Ranma around the camp please, Annabeth," Chiron said.

"Follow me," Annabeth said. She led them away from the house toward the cabins. They started at the base of the "U" where the two fanciest looking cabins lay.

Annabeth pointed to them, "Cabins 1 and 2. Both are empty."

"Why's that?" Ranma asked. "If Cabin 1 is whose I think it is, shouldn't it be full to the brim?"

Ranma was really limited in his knowledge of Greek myth, but he'd watched the American film _Clash of the Titans_ after he had found out about Kasumi's family. He knew that Zeus fathered lots of kids and that his wife, Hera, hated them for the crime of being born.

Annabeth snorted and then tried to control herself. "After World War Two, which was complicated by sons of the Big Three taking sides, Zeus and his brothers, Poseidon and Hades, agreed to not father anymore demigods. So far they've pretty much kept it. There was one child of Zeus that I knew, but she's gone now." The blond girl sadly looked at the ground.

"What about the Big Three's sisters?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, Hera, that's her cabin there," Anabeth said, "is the Goddess of Marriage, so she refuses to have any children out of wedlock. Her cabin is empty. Demeter's cabin is over there, number 4. Her children don't seem to be as powerful as her brothers' children for whatever reason—maybe because her domain isn't as wide. The oldest sister, Hestia, is celibate."

"Where's her cabin?" Kasumi asked.

"She doesn't have one," Annabeth said. "Only the Dodekatheon, those on the Council, have cabins. Hermes, Cabin 11, hosts the children of minor gods."

Kasumi frowned.

Ranma spoke up in defense of his mother-in-law. "I wouldn't think that Hestia was a minor goddess."

"She's not," Annabeth said. "Not really, but that's what people have taken to calling those gods who don't have a seat on the Council. Hestia gave hers up millennia ago to Mr. D in order to preserve harmony among the gods."

Now Ranma frowned. That ass was the one who forced his mother-in-law out? Who his own mother had said was worthy of respect? He would really watch himself. He decided to try and avoid the jerk whenever possible.

"I'll show you the others," Annabeth said as she started walking down the open area between the cabins.

As they walked past Cabin 3, Percy started to wander over to it.

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "It's very bad to enter a cabin uninvited. I wouldn't risk it."

Percy came back to them. "Whose is that?"

"Poseidon," Annabeth replied. "It's empty like his brother's due to the oath."

"Does Hades have a cabin here?" Kasumi asked.

"No," Annabeth said. "While he's as powerful as his brothers, he's not on the Council except during the Winter Solstice."

"Why's that?" Ranma asked.

"Officially it's because he's too busy in the Underworld, unofficially, well. . . it's better not to speculate."

They kept walking. "That's my cabin, number 6," Annabeth said.

"Athena, right?" Percy asked.

"So you remembered. I guess you're not a complete idiot," Annabeth said.

"Flirt later," Ranma said. "We just got off a long plane ride and I'd like to relax, so let's get this over with."

"Hey, newbies," a harsh-sounding girl's voice said. "It's time for your initiation."

"Clarisse," Annabeth said, irritated.

The new girl was a couple of years younger than him, but taller with a muscular build and stringy brown hair. She was flanked by five others that had some similar features.

"Local bully?" Ranma asked.

Annabeth nodded.

"Good, I was looking to relax," he said.

"Don't hurt them too much, Ranma," Kasumi said. "It would be better if they didn't become your usual style of 'friend.'"

"Does he really think he can handle six children of the war god alone?" Annabeth asked Kasumi.

"He really does," Kasumi said.

"Is he going to be alright?" Annabeth said worriedly.

"I wouldn't worry about Ranma," Kasumi said serenely.

Ranma rolled his neck and did a quick stretch of his limbs and then assumed his usual not-a-stance. He was tempted to start with his normal "I don't fight weak girls" proclamation to get her mad, but his mother had extracted a promise from him with Kasumi's help that he would never say those words or anything like them. Evidently, at least two goddesses would kill him if they ever heard he'd uttered those words. In truth, he mostly did not believe what his pop told him about women. He mostly just said it to get Akane mad.

"What?" he said, "you chicken out already?"

"Just trying to figure out if you're that stupid," Clarisse responded.

"I think you'll find that I'm that good." He produced his most irritating smirk.

Clarisse produced a spear that crackled with electricity. She charged him. The others spread out to keep any of their group from escaping.

Ranma easily dodged her strikes. He thought she was about as skilled as Shampoo when he first met her—maybe a bit quicker. She had a strong aura. The auras of her cronies were not nearly as developed, but were similar.

He bounced closer to one crony and took him out with a kick to the stomach. He took out the other male cronies, just leaving Clarisse and one other girl. He mentally shrugged. It was time to leave his pop's prejudices behind—with what his mom told him about some of the Greek monsters and goddesses, it was a weakness he could not afford. He took out the female crony and then slipped within Clarisse's guard and pummeled her, dropping her to the ground.

"You done?" he asked her. Her cronies had already slunk off.

"You haven't heard the last of this, Karate Kid," Clarisse snarled, walking off.

He noted the cabin she was headed to. It had a large banner with a boar's head. He called out to her. "I'm ready anytime, Miss Piggy. I don't hold with bullies, so keep your nose clean if you don't want another thrashing."

Kasumi smiled at him indulgently.

Annabeth and Percy looked at him incredulously.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that!?" Percy exclaimed.

"Been training since I could walk," he explained.

"Fighting ordinary humans is different than fighting demigods," Annabeth said with irritation.

"I usually don't fight ordinary people," he said. "No point to it unless they're hurting someone."

They continued the tour of the cabins. At the end of one of the rows, they came to Cabin 11. "Hermes takes in those that don't have a place or don't know where their place is yet," Annabeth said, "since he's the God of Travelers."

"Regular or undetermined?" a boy at the door asked with a touch of boredom.

A taller blond boy came up behind him.

"Undetermined, all three," said Annabeth. "Although Ranma says that he's got a non-Greek godly parent."

The two presumed sons of Hermes looked surprised.

"I'm here because of my wife," Ranma explained. He indicated Kasumi with a nod of his head.

The three looked inside the cabin. It was homely, but crowded. There was no way he was letting Kasumi stay here.

"No offense to you guys, but Kasumi and I won't be staying here," Ranma said.

"Why not?" asked the first boy. "It's tradition."

Ranma searched for something to say that would not offend them.

"Well, we're newlyweds," Kasumi said, "and we'd like some privacy." Her normal serene expression was marred by a slight blush. Her blush caused Ranma to go almost as red as his other form's hair when he figured out what she was implying.

"It's pretty unusual for someone as old as you two to make their first appearance here at your age," said the older Hermes boy.

"Kasumi's mom did something to protect her until she turned 20," Ranma said.

"Oh? I thought you said 'Undetermined?'" the older one said.

"We haven't been officially claimed yet," Kasumi said.

"You'll have to talk to Chiron or Mr. D to make other arrangements, but until you're claimed you'll probably be assigned to us for activities, regardless."

He stuck out his hand to Ranma. "I'm Luke Castellan, the counselor for Cabin 11. This is Travis Stoll, a fellow son of Hermes."

Ranma took his hand. "I'm Ranma Saotome. This is my wife, Kasumi Saotome and this is Percy Jackson." He indicated the other two.

He noticed a small blush on Annabeth's face as Luke introduced himself. He had become sensitive to the signs of infatuation in self-defense. He was glad that he was not the target this time.

The two Hermes boys shook hands with the newcomers.

"Percy," Luke said. "You can leave your things here. Travis will show you to a spot."

The two younger boys went inside.

"If you can't make other arrangements, I'm sure we can find a spot for you two," Luke said to the Saotomes.

When Percy returned, Annabeth showed them around the rest of the camp. There were some nice outdoor training areas, but the actual topics did not interest him a whole lot. Most of the teaching seemed to be targeted toward sword or spear work or archery. He had done a small amount of weapons training, but not in the Greek style. What he saw of the Greek style, he did not like. He preferred the greater independence and options that an unarmed style gave him, for one. For the other, the Greek style incorporated a lot of shield work which would not benefit his style and overall it was not nearly as mobile as he preferred.

The other places she showed them were the craft and study areas, a good sized auditorium, the dining pavilion, and a little inlet for swimming and boating. The auditorium had a large fire pit with an old-fashioned hearth around it.

* * *

Kasumi and Ranma went to see Chiron about sleeping arrangements.

"A different place to stay?" he repeated. "That's highly irregular and against tradition."

"How many married campers do you have come through here?" Ranma asked.

"You're actually the first since we moved to this location about a hundred years ago," Chiron admitted.

"See?" Ranma said. "We're unprecedented."

"Perhaps we can postpone this decision until Kasumi is claimed," the centaur said. "It might be possible to make arrangements with her cabin and a few days in Cabin 11 won't hurt."

Ranma shook his head, "I think we can tell you that Kasumi's mother doesn't sponsor a cabin."

"Ah, well the children of minor gods. . ." Chiron started.

Ranma instinctively entered the Soul of Ice. He looked over and saw Kasumi's frown. "You will not refer to our mothers as minor goddesses," he said coldly.

Chiron seemed to flinch more from Kasumi's frown than Ranma's icy cold. "Ah, it's just customary. . ."

"It's an obsolete custom," said Kasumi as if that was the end of it.

"As you say," Chiron said, sweating. "I think we might be able to find a room in the Big House."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm not entirely satisfied with the scene with Mr. D, but I couldn't see either of them thinking the other one was worth their time and I have something special in mind for the first Olympian Ranma ticks off.


	6. Chapter 6: Claimed

After a decent-length nap, Travis came and told them it was time for dinner. The two Saotomes met Cabin 11 at the lunch pavilion.

"How's it going?" Percy asked.

"As well as can be expected considering we're 14 hours behind Tokyo time," Kasumi said. "We've been sleeping to offset severe jet lag. You?"

"I've been checking out the activities," Percy said. Then he smirked. "Clarisse and her crew cornered me by the bathrooms after you left and tried to dunk my head in the toilet, but somehow they ended up wet instead of me."

"How'd that happen?" Ranma asked.

Percy shrugged. "No clue, really. Something like that happened before during a field trip, but I don't know how or why."

The Cabin 11 kids lined up in order of seniority, with Ranma being last. He did not mind as long as they did not run out of food. There were 12 picnic tables under the pavilion. The first three tables were empty as well as table 8. Mr. D, Chiron, two campers, and some satyrs were at table 12. The other tables had various numbers of campers. The most crowded by far was table 11. Some attractive, but flighty-looking girls brought a couple of stools so that Ranma and Kasumi, the last in line, would have somewhere to sit. Ranma was not too thrilled about the seating arrangement, but kept in mind his mother's warning not to make waves over small things.

When everyone was seated, Mr. D stood up and said, "I'd like to welcome three new campers, Prissy Johnstone, Kathy Santos, and Rob Sackville."

"Percy Jackson!" Percy yelled.

"Kasumi and Ranma Saotome," Ranma called. "We have the same last name because we're married."

As Ranma finished speaking, he noticed a symbol appear over Kasumi's head. It was a large fire in an old-fashioned outdoor hearth.

Chiron stood and said in a shaky voice, "Hail Kasumi, daughter of Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home."

The rest of the campers in unison said, "Hail!"

The centaur said, "I don't recognize your parent's symbol, Ranma."

Ranma looked up and saw a white nine-tailed fox sitting beside a rice paddy.

"Inari," Kasumi said. "Shinto Deity of Rice, Tea, Sake, Prosperity, Success, Fertility, Foxes, Agriculture, and Industry."

Chiron said, "Hail Ranma, son of Inari, Shinto Goddess of Agriculture and Industry."

The rest of the campers said, "Hail!"

"Since your mothers don't have tables here, you will continue to eat and do activities with Cabin 11," Chiron said.

Ranma could hear the whole pavilion talking about the first known child of Hestia and the first foreign half blood at camp.

"I thought your mother took an oath to be celibate like Artemis," Travis said to Kasumi.

"My father said she formed me in their hands out of mist and fire," Kasumi said. "So she still keeps to her oath."

"Oh," Travis said, "So it's more like Athena's oath of celibacy." He chuckled. "I don't think that's what the Big Guy was thinking of when he asked her for the oath, but he can hardly punish her for it without punishing his daughter."

"The Big Guy asked her to be celibate?" Ranma asked. Travis must mean Zeus. The campers seemed to be superstitious about mentioning names. Remembering the earlier thunderclap when Percy was mouthing off, he figured they might have cause.

Travis shrugged. "That's the rumor from legend. It's because she's the oldest of the six children of their father."

"Why did you say Shinto instead of Japanese, Kasumi?" Percy asked.

"It's because religion is fluid in East Asia," Kasumi answered. "Shinto gods are the primary gods in Japan, but Buddhist gods are also worshipped and they aren't really exclusive. Confucianism and, to a lesser extent, Taoism also have some influence, but they are more philosophies in the way the West categorizes things and they don't have gods. While Shinto is unique to Japan, similar situations exist in Korea and China."

"Does your mom really have all those domains?" Travis asked.

"I guess," Ranma answered. "I've never really thought about it, but she is the most popular god in Japan."

"So she's the leader?" asked Percy.

"Nah," Ranma responded. "The Shinto gods don't really have a leader, but Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, is the most prestigious. I think that's mostly because the Emperor's supposed to be descended from her. Now that I think about it, Mom indicated that claim was true."

The same type of young women brought them food as had brought the stools.

"Who are they?" Ranma asked.

"Nymphs," Travis answered. "They're a kind of nature spirit. Satyrs are their male counterparts."

The food was pretty basic: barbequed meat, fruits, vegetables, bread, and cheese. Luckily, there was a lot of it.

"Before you start, we have to do the offerings," Travis said.

Demeter's table got up first, since her table was the lowest number with people sitting at it. They walked up to the fire at the front of the table and scraped off some food from their plate into the fire.

Travis said, "It's customary to offer food to your parent, but you can also offer to any other that you feel you owe or want a favor from. You just think of who you want to offer to as you give it to the fire."

"What do they get out of it?" Percy asked.

Travis shrugged. "I guess they like the smell."

When it came time for Table 11 and Ranma's turn came, he scraped off some grapes and strawberries. _Here you go, Mom. I don't know if this thing is connected to you._

He felt a warm glow in response. It must have worked.

He figured he ought to get off on the right foot with his mother-in-law, so he tore off some bread and thought. _I know you don't know me, Hestia, but you have a nice daughter and I'm starting to figure out how lucky I am to be married to her._

He figured he owed Apollo, so he threw in some beef for him. _Thanks for the sponsorship, Apollo._

With a shrug he threw in some grapes for Hermes. _Thanks for the offer of your cabin, Hermes, even if we didn't use it._

At the table, Travis told them how to ask for the drink of their choice from the magic goblets. Ranma was never one to turn away food, so he ate his fill, even if it was not his favorite.

"They ever serve rice or tofu here?" Ranma asked.

"No, this is pretty standard," Travis said. "Why?"

"Oh, I like pretty much any food, but those are my favorite," Ranma replied.

"Eww," Travis said. "You actually like tofu?"

Ranma shrugged. "I always have. I was raised on the road. Can't be too picky, especially with my old man around."

They swapped stories with the Hermes kids talking about the quests that had happened in recent years and other activities. Ranma told them about some of his odder adventures.

"Marital Arts Take Out? Seriously?" Percy said dubiously.

After dinner, they gathered around the campfire in the auditorium and the Apollo kids led them in some songs and other activities.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kasumi asked. "We were told it's dangerous to be out after dark."

"That's why I need to do this," Ranma replied. "If it is dangerous, I want to know why and how much."

"What if you get caught?" Kasumi asked. "Your sponsor said he wouldn't bail you out if you get in trouble."

Ranma smirked and shifted into a girl.

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "You know that disguise won't last forever. Eventually they'll realize that's you or connected to you."

"Maybe," Ranma said, "but I need to spend some girl time anyway."

"Just be careful, Ranma," Kasumi said gently.

"I will," Ranma said as she gave the taller girl a hug. "I don't want to ruin things for you."

Ranma snuck out of the house through the window. It was the second floor, but that did not bother her. She considered using the Umisenken to hide herself, but discarded it. She had promised her father not to use it trivially, and while promises to her father rated less than promises to someone she trusted to keep their own promises, she still did not want to break it. However, her primary reason for not using it was that she wanted to use her aura sensing, and that did not mesh with the Umisenken.

She snuck through the camp, feeling for anything else that was awake. She felt something moving at high speed through the trees. It felt like a mix between a bird and a human, but less human than a Phoenix person from Jusendo. She avoided the bird people and checked out the craft areas, the training areas, and the stable. Nothing unusual could be found there. When she got to the auditorium she felt a warm, kind aura near the campfire. The aura was strong, but not unusually so.

She stood in the shadows behind the top row of seats and saw a young girl, perhaps 8- or 9-years old tending the fire. She wore a modest rust-red dress with a shawl of the same color covering her hair. She was pretty, but not unusually so. The only odd thing about her, other than her aura which was too strong for a girl that age, was her eyes which were a dark, smoldering red. Despite their odd color, her eyes seemed cheerfully inviting rather than sinister.

"You can come down," the girl called such that it just barely reached her ears. "I can sense you up there."

Ranma mentally shrugged and descended to the campfire.

"You realize that campers are not supposed to be out right now," the girl stated.

"I could say the same of you," Ranma responded.

"I'm not a camper," the girl stated simply. The way she looked at Ranma made her think that she was still waiting for an answer. The manner reminded her of someone close to her. She decided to take a chance.

"I couldn't allow Kasumi to stay her without checking the place out," she said.

"Kasumi. . ." the girl said with a hint of a hitch in her voice. She stood up straighter. "I know you now. You gave me an offering this evening. . . but aren't you supposed to be a man?"

Figuring out that she was talking to her mother-in-law, Ranma decided that the best thing to do was to come clean.

"Shapeshifting curse," she replied. She shifted to a man. He held that form for a few moments then shifted back. "I only recently got some control of it thanks to my mom, but it's still pretty restrictive. I have to spend a certain amount of time as a girl to retain control."

"Fascinating," Hestia said. "How much do you have to be a woman?"

"Half and half," Ranma answered. "Luckily sleeping counts, or everyone would know. It used to be triggered by cold and warm water, but part of the curse made me attract it. Everyone found out about it and I was treated pretty poorly because of it. The girls all thought I was a pervert and the boys tried to take advantage of it to peep in the locker room. I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread it around."

She waved her hand. "I won't tell unless there's a good reason."

Ranma smiled in return. She got the feeling that Hestia's "good reason" would not be trivial or at her expense. "Thanks."

"How did you pick up this curse?" her mother-in-law asked.

Ranma explained about the ten-year training trip which culminated in Jusenkyo and the other curses that her friends and acquaintances had.

"I think you got lucky to stay human," Hestia said.

She nodded. "At first I didn't think so. It was kind of hard due to the way I was treated, especially by my pop, and the way that I was 'almost normal,' but I agree with you now. One of my friends-slash-rivals turns into a small piglet. Several times he's been saved from being eaten by the fact that they threw him into a soup pot full of warm water."

Hestia giggled.

They both stared into the fire. "What can you tell me about Kasumi?" Hestia asked with a hint of longing in her voice.

Ranma told her about Kasumi's kind nature and her skill in the kitchen and about how she had raised her sisters after her father's breakdown upon his wife's death. She told her about the time Kasumi was possessed by an "evil" oni. That incident had Hestia almost rolling on the floor. She told her about how the two of them had decided to honor their families' marriage pledge.

"Do you love her?" Hestia asked when Ranma had finished.

"I'm not really sure what love is," Ranma admitted. "I've led a harsh, but sheltered life. I do know that I care about her and want to protect her. She's been the most consistent friend I've had and that means a lot to me."

"That's more than good enough for me, Ranma," she said with a smile. "As the Goddess of the Home, I've seen a lot of families, and caring about someone like that is more important than romantic love to having a happy family. You have my blessing to be with my daughter."

"Would you like to meet her?" Ranma asked.

"I would love to meet her," Hestia said sadly, "but I'm not allowed to seek her out or make arrangements to meet her."

Ranma nodded. "I understand." She winked at her. "Say, on a completely unrelated topic, are you here most nights? I might happen to run into you again."

She smiled faintly. "I've been known to be here, on occasion."

Ranma wrapped the younger-seeming woman in a quick hug and then turned and ran into the darkness. "Take care, Mom," she called over her shoulder.

"Take care, Son," just barely reached her ears.


	7. Chapter 7: Reunion

"How was it?" Kasumi asked her drowsily when Ranma got back from her exploration.

"Not bad," Ranma said. "I ran into some bird people, but they weren't hard to avoid. There wasn't anything else remotely dangerous out there." She decided to save Hestia as a surprise until she could introduce them. Hopefully, tomorrow evening.

* * *

The next morning, they ate breakfast at Table 11 again. After that, they went to the various activities.

The crafts—painting, sculpture, and basket weaving—did not interest Ranma, but Kasumi found them interesting.

Ranma was about to dismiss the stables too, until he found out that the horses had wings. The winged horses were called pegasi. The pegasi seemed to like Percy better than any of the other campers. Like in most things that involved doing, Ranma was a quick learner and picked up the basics or riding fairly quickly. He talked the stable hands into letting him actually fly. He had a blast riding through the air, but wished he could figure out a way to do it under his own power like Herb or Saffron.

In the combat lessons, they had a choice of sword, spear, or dagger. Ranma chose a spear and encouraged Kasumi to do so too.

"You can practice katas with a broom, if you need to or if it's all that's available," Ranma told her. "I wonder if they can make you a naginata? That would be pretty traditional for back home."

"Why did you choose one for you, Ranma?" she asked.

"A spear has more non-lethal options than a sword. It also has a longer reach than a sword."

Although Ranma's specialty was unarmed combat, he was still decent with most basic weapons. His pop had showed them how to use them so that he could defend against them. With his natural athleticism and speed, he could still manage to beat all the members of Cabin 11 except Luke in a straight up fight on the ground.

Luke was quite good with his sword. Ranma knew he could beat him if he wasn't slowed down by the spear or if he used some of his special ki moves.

Kasumi was actually better than he thought she would be.

"I practiced martial arts until my mo-, my step-mother died," she told her husband. "Even after that I worked a lot of my household chores into a kind of kata."

"Anything Goes Martial Arts Housekeeping?" Ranma teased.

She giggled. "Not quite. It was more like a dance to me than fighting. I did it because I enjoyed it and it seemed to flow together for me."

Ranma also did well in Archery, since he had a good eye and a steady hand. Kasumi's skill level with a bow was pretty typical of a beginner, but was much better than Percy's.

They "tested out" of Ancient Greek, which seemed to irritate Annabeth who was assigned to teach it to the newcomers. Ranma refused to tell her how they knew it, just to further annoy her.

* * *

That evening, Ranma told his wife, "I have something I want to show you outside. I think you'll like it."

"Now?" Kasumi asked. "It's already past curfew."

"When things quiet down, so we don't get caught," Ranma responded.

About an hour later they snuck out with Ranma leading them. They cautiously made their way to the auditorium. Ranma stopped in the shadows near the top. Once again a young-looking girl was tending to the fire that still burned. Hestia looked up at them. He smiled. The girl aged until she looked to be about 30.

"I want you to meet someone, Kasumi," he said.

As they walked down to the fire, he noticed that his wife was trembling slightly. "Is this who I think it is?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he answered.

"Hello, Kasumi," Hestia said when they neared her.

"Can I call you mother?" Kasumi asked tentatively.

Hestia nodded and then wrapped her in a hug. "You can call me Mother, Mom, or even Mommy, my darling girl."

Kasumi hugged her back tightly. "Okay, Mom."

After the two women disengaged, Hestia said, "Come here, Son-in-law."

Ranma found that he did not mind it when Hestia called him that like he had when Cologne had. He thought it was because she used it endearingly rather than as a taunt.

Hestia wrapped him in a hug too. "Thank you for this. Without your intervention I'm not sure when we would meet."

"My pleasure," Ranma responded.

When he was released, he sat down on one of the front-row benches so that his wife could speak to her mom. He was amazed at how Kasumi looked almost exactly like a Japanese version of her mom. Sure, there was a little bit of his father-in-law there, but mostly Hestia. He could also tell that Kasumi took after her mom personality-wise if you discarded the veneer of Japanese mannerisms and culture.

"I watched your life discreetly, whenever I could," Hestia said, "but I'd like to hear from you the important things happened in your life."

Kasumi told about growing up, how kindly her step-mother had treated her and how sad she was when she died, taking over maintenance of the family, school, meeting Ranma. Hestia asked about some of Ranma's adventures. Ranma gave her some more highlights of the training trip and the Nerima years.

Hestia shook her head. "Ranma, I don't know if I've ever seen anyone tempt fate so much as your father and somehow survive. Usually somebody that stupid manages to off themselves."

"My mother is fond of him for some reason," Ranma said. "There must have been some divine intervention of some sort. I think she was only tempted to smite him once. She told me that the Shinto gods look for people to challenge their offspring."

"What was the smiting offense?" Hestia asked, curious.

"I'd really rather not say," Ranma said. "It still makes me shudder."

After about three hours, Hestia said, "I better go. I don't want to get you two in trouble. Unfortunately, it's always the demigod's fault when a problem arises."

Ranma chuckled. "I'm used to it always being my fault."

"A warning to you two," she said. "A god's first child is always among their most powerful. There are those that might try to use you as a tool, Kasumi. Please, be careful. I love you."

"I love you to, Mom," Kasumi said and they exchanged one last hug.

* * *

The next day's activities were pretty similar to the previous day's. The main difference was that instead of Ancient Greek they were taught about the various monsters that came against demigods. Most of the Greek monsters were either part-human, part-animal or a giant animal. Personally, Ranma hoped he never met the Nemean Lion, but knowing his luck, it was a guarantee that he would.

They also sat down with Chiron to help determine if they had any demigod powers and what other powers they might hope to develop.

"Kasumi," he said, "while you're the first child of Hestia, we can expect you to develop powers involving fire and the home."

"She is the best cook I've ever seen," Ranma offered.

"Thanks, Ranma," she said with a small blush. "One thing I noticed a long time ago was that I could touch hot pans without being burned."

"That's pretty cool," Ranma said. "How come nobody knew?"

"It tended to distress father when I told him about it when I was ten, so I abstained from it when anyone was present."

"You might want to cautiously experiment to see if you can handle fire, call it, or even start it spontaneously," Chiron suggested. He turned to Ranma, "I don't know anything about your mother, so I can't really help you get started, Ranma. But if you figure out some of your gifts, I can help you develop a training plan."

Ranma nodded and thought about his mother's domains: Rice, Tea, Sake, Prosperity, Success, Fertility, Foxes, Agriculture, and Industry. He liked to eat rice, it was his favorite, but he did not think he had any powers related to that. Same with tea. He had never tried sake—mostly due to his father and father-in-law's bad example. He did not have much experience with prosperity due to his father and Nabiki's thieving and extorting ways. _Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!_ He was not sure if he had powers regarding success. In fact, he would prefer if his successes came from training and work rather than a divine power. He shuddered when came to fertility on his mental checklist and skipped to the next. He had never really interacted with any foxes, so he did not know about that. He thought he might have a minor ability with agriculture in determining which plants were which. He had never tried to grow any, since his father did not want him to do anything that was not martial arts. He should look into that. As far as industry went, he was a hard worker and loved to train, but was not sure that counted as a divine power.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I think I might have some minor powers in the Agriculture domain. As for the rest, I identify with Success and aspects of Industry, but I don't think they're powers."

Kasumi giggled. "Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!"

Ranma chuckled. "I might have said that once or twice."

* * *

The rest of the week passed the same way. The only interesting thing was that they found out that Percy's physical attributes and skill increased substantially when he was wet. He was good enough that he beat both Luke and Percy in weapons spars. Ranma wanted to try him unarmed, but Kasumi stopped him.

"We're here to learn, Ranma, not for you to show off," she said.

"I don't want to show off, Kasumi, I just haven't had a decent spar since we left Nerima."

Unfortunately for Ranma, they were out of time for the combat workshop.

That evening was Capture the Flag—a game that the camp played every Friday. The camp split up by cabins with the two cabins that had control of the flags making deals with the other cabins. As was often the case according to Luke, Cabin 5 (Ares) and Cabin 6 (Athena) had the flags. Cabin 6 had gotten Cabin 7 (Apollo) and Cabin 11 (Hermes) to join their side. Cabin 5 also had Cabin 4 (Demeter), Cabin 9, (Hephaestus), Cabin 10 (Aphrodite), and Cabin 12 (Dionysus). Since Ranma and Kasumi were grouped with Cabin 11 for activities, they were in the Athena group for this match.

Annabeth, who was Cabin 6's head counselor, made assignments. Kasumi was in the group on guard duty for their flag. Ranma and Percy was supposed to guard the border—which Ranma could see was supposed to draw out Clarisse, who was antagonistic toward both of them. Luke was the leader of the strike force going after the flag. Ranma could tell that Annabeth was sweet on Luke, which was probably why he got the "glorious" assignment.

Ranma thought about disregarding Annabeth's assignments and going after the flag himself, but figured that would make Kasumi upset. She wanted them to fit in, if possible, and him flouting assignments just to show off would cause resentment. Even before he married her, he had always thought twice about upsetting Kasumi. There was just something about her that made most people want to please her.

The border between the different sides of the "playing field" was a creek. He took a look around and decided that there was no way he was just hanging out here as a distraction. He figured that Percy would do well, if he stayed in the water.

"Percy, once we start, you stand in the middle of the creek," he said. "I'm going to hide in the trees."

Ranma hopped up into a tree and then went looking for Luke, stealthily—using his ki to cushion his landings so that he would not make noise. This was the same technique he had used to roof hop across Nerima at high speed without crashing through the roofs. He decided he would not mess up Annabeth's plan to make Luke look good, but if Luke messed up he would intervene. There was no way he would let his team lose.

Once the game got started, Ranma shadowed Luke. It appeared that Annabeth's diversion worked, since Luke avoided most of the opposing side's heavy hitters. With Luke's skill with a sword, he managed to disarm those that he ran into. Clarisse had Demeter's cabin guarding the flag. They tried to snare Luke with plants under their control, but he was too fast for them. He got the flag and led his group back toward the creek. Ranma continued following them in the trees.

When they came to the creek, the boar's head on the flag turned to Hermes's Caduceus. They happened to cross the creek near where Clarisse had confronted Percy. Clarisse was holding the broken halves of her spear and fuming.

While most people were focused on Luke, Ranma's danger sense started blaring. He looked toward Percy and saw a huge dog charging him. Ranma pulled his spear out of the ki pocket he had it in and flung it like a javelin at the dog's forehead. About two seconds after his spear pierced its head, two arrows pierced its eyes, one after the other. Ranma looked around and saw Chiron holding a bow.

Everyone stopped congratulating Luke and gaped at the hound. Annabeth, who was standing near Percy at the edge of the creek, exclaimed, "Where did that come from!? It shouldn't be here!"

"That was an excellent throw, Ranma," Chiron said. "How did you get a full size spear to go that fast?"

"Ki," Ranma answered.

"Ki?" Chiron asked.

"That's the Japanese word for it, I don't think there's an equivalent to it in English," Ranma explained. "It's the energy that the body produces. Everyone has it, but a master-level martial artist has much more of it and can harness it to make the body do superhuman feats."

"You mean like the Force from Star Wars?" Travis asked.

"Not really," Ranma said. "Ki is internal, not external like the Force."

Attention was focused away from Ranma by Annabeth's exclamation, "I knew it!"

A glowing trident hung over Percy's head.

"Hail, Perseus Jackson," Chiron intoned. "Son of Poseidon, God of the Seas, Stormbringer, Earthshaker, Lord of Horses."

"Hail!" the other campers intoned.


	8. Chapter 8: Quests

The next day the whole camp was talking about how Percy was the son of one of the Big Three. This displaced the talk about Ranma and Kasumi, which suited the two of them just fine. The strange thing was that the weather which had been steadily growing worse over the week that they had been their suddenly turned downright nasty.

As the day progressed it almost appeared as if the elements were fighting. Lightning strikes hit the sea again and again. The camp itself was mostly protected although the wind was acting up more than normal.

By the next morning, Sunday, the weather was even worse. At breakfast, Mr. D banished Percy from camp and threatened to turn him into a dolphin if he did not go Supposedly, the Big Guy was convinced that Percy had stolen his Master Bolt on behalf of his father, despite Percy not knowing who his father was until yesterday.

Chiron intervened and told Percy that he had to go on a quest to find it and prove his innocence. He could choose two companions to go with him after he spoke to the oracle. Percy went to the oracle and came back with a confusing and vague prophecy. Chiron suggested that the line in the prophecy about "the West" implied that Hades was the perpetrator of the theft and that he should look for the entrance to the Underworld in Los Angeles. After that, the crowd dispersed.

Percy sought out Ranma. "Hey Ranma, I was wondering if you would go with me on my quest?"

Ranma thought about it. On the one hand, he was usually up for an adventure. On the other hand, he had a job to do and he could not do it while adventuring.

"Sorry, bud," he told the younger boy. "I'm still a newlywed. I've only been married just over a week. I wouldn't feel right leaving Kasumi right now."

"Oh, sorry" Percy said. "I didn't think about that."

"No problem," Ranma said. "I promised her father I'd look after her. Plus, my sister-in-law tells me I'm a show off and a glory hog—and she's more right than not. If I went along, it would become my quest instead of yours. There are other people here that would make excellent companions for you. Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm asking Grover for sure," Percy said. "I'm not sure about the other. Annabeth is pretty keen to go."

"She's pretty smart," Ranma said, "if a little lacking in common sense."

Percy stared at Ranma. "Pot. Kettle. Black."

Ranma laughed. "I guess I deserved that. I've always been uncommon, so common sense isn't that useful for me. Anyway, I'm sure you'll do fine."

Grover accepted Percy's invitation and he did end up inviting Annabeth. They left at about midday.

* * *

"Do you regret that you're not going?" Kasumi asked after Argus took the three to the bus stop.

"To a certain extent," Ranma admitted. "I'm used to all the crazy antics revolving around me. It's odd to see them centered on someone else. However, I'm happy to be here with you." He was a little surprised to find that it was true. After only a week, he found that he enjoyed being around her.

Kasumi smiled brightly at him. "Me too, Ranma. Me, too."

With Percy and his companions' departure, the weather inside the camp seemed to stop being so threatening. However, outside the camp, the storm still howled.

Early in the morning three days after Percy's departure, Ranma reached a point where he had to act.

"I've got to leave for the day," Ranma told his wife.

"Why?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

"I've been spending too much time as a man," he said. "There doesn't seem to be twelve hours of privacy in a day due to campfires and other activities. I'm getting close to the point where I'll spontaneously change."

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked. "Make it a girls' day out?"

He smiled at her, but shook his head. "I want to scout out the surrounding area. Plus, I assume you need a little bit of a break from me sometimes."

"I'm not sick of you yet, Ranma Saotome," she responded.

He laughed. "I'm glad."

He gave her a quick kiss and snuck out the window.

* * *

The Long Island countryside was pretty. They were far enough away from the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs of New York City that it could be considered countryside. Somehow Camp Half Blood had managed to obtain a good-sized buffer around the camp. Most of it was strawberry fields. Beyond the fields, were other small farms and large manors. The other campers had told him that a number of rich New Yorkers had vacation homes on the island. Ranma found evidence of monsters around the camp, but there were not any currently stalking the camp.

Ranma had a relaxing day, to a certain extent it reminded her of the good parts of wandering with her father during their training trip. She regretted a little, not bringing Kasumi along, as she thought she would have enjoyed it. However, as much as she was beginning to enjoy her time with her wife, she also needed a bit of a break where she did not have the pressure of keeping her mouth in control. Even before their marriage, she had always felt compelled to not disappoint the older girl.

As dinner time approached, Ranma headed back toward camp. She changed back to her birth form before crossing the camp's boundary.

As he approached the main part of the camp, he heard campers talking about Percy's midday call via something called Iris Messaging from Denver. Ranma smiled. They were making good time. They should make it to California well before the Summer Solstice deadline.

He opened his ki senses to try and find Kasumi. He frowned as he could not sense her. He tried their room and found it much how he had left it this morning, but without any sign of Kasumi. He started asking campers where she was, but no one had seen her since mid-afternoon.

Her absence without leaving a note or word for him was starting to eat at him. He had experienced this too many times with Akane while they had been engaged. He wandered practically the whole camp, but still could not sense her ki. He managed to control himself outwardly until dinner only since it was almost time. The entire camp was gathered except for Kasumi and Luke.

Chiron asked, "Has anyone seen Kasumi or Luke?"

"Not since about two thirty," said Travis.

No one else had seen them later than that.

 _Mom, I need your help!_ he called mentally.

 _What is it, Dear?_ he heard.

 _Kasumi's missing. I suspect foul play. Can you give me some help tracking her?_ he asked.

 _I can send one of my servants,_ she responded. _She'll meet you at the large pine at the edge of camp in twenty minutes._

Ranma ate his fill and put some food in a ki pocket. Luckily most of it would last for several days without any refrigeration.

"I'm going looking for Kasumi, Chiron," he told the Activities Director.

"I'm sure she's just lost track of time, Ranma," the centaur responded.

He shook his head. "I can't sense her in camp at all."

Enough of the campers overheard him and started to offer him best wishes in finding his wife.

"Do you want to visit the Oracle and choose companions?" Chiron asked.

"Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but no. They'd just slow me down."

Chiron looked doubtful, but could not really say anything because Ranma was not Greek.

"Don't come back without Katie, Robbie," Mr. D said. He had his legs kicked up onto his table.

Ranma ignored him and jogged back to their room and picked up a few things. He then ran toward the large tree.

He had only been at the tree for a couple of minutes when a wolf-sized white fox with six tails ran up.

"Hello, Lord Ranma," the fox said. "My name is Tsukiko. My mistress sent me to help you find Lady Kasumi."

"Hi, Tsukiko," Ranma replied. "Thanks for helping out. Do you need something to track her?"

"If you have something with her scent on it, Lord Ranma, that would be sufficient," the fox said.

"Would a hairbrush do?" Ranma asked, pulling it out of a ki pocket.

"That would work very well, Lord Ranma," Tsukiko said.

"Good," Ranma replied. "And just call me Ranma."

"I couldn't do that, Lord Ranma," the fox said with her tongue hanging out. Ranma sensed she was laughing at him. "It wouldn't be proper."

Ranma rolled his eyes and held out the hairbrush for Tsukiko to sniff.

"If you wait a few minutes, Lord Ranma," the fox said, "I will be able to locate her ki so that I don't have to try and find her scent to follow."

"Cool!" Ranma said.

The fox sat down on her haunches and closed her eyes. Ten minutes later, she opened them. "I've found her general direction and distance," she said. "She's thousands of kilometers to the west."

Ranma grimaced. "They must have gotten into a plane or something similar. They'll have to set down sometime. Let's go."

He started running at a quick, distance-eating pace. Tsukiko kept up with him easily to his relief. He estimated that he was running about 50 kilometers per hour, which was faster than most sprinters, but way too slow to catch up. He would need to find a train or bus to hitch a ride on.

He clenched his fists. Whoever had done this would pay. He could not rule out dishing out Saffron's fate again.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Short chapter, but this was the best stopping place.


	9. Chapter 9: The Hunt

"Do you know how to get to the mainland?" Ranma asked Tsukiko.

"Yes," she said. "The only way to get there without getting a boat is through Manhattan or the Bronx. After that, it would be best to cross over into New Jersey, heading Upstate would make us swing north unnecessarily."

"Lead the way," he said.

They ran through the countryside. When they got to Queens, they started roof hopping. Ranma was impressed that the fox could keep up. They took the Queensboro Bridge across to Manhattan. The skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan were too uneven to roof hop, so they ran through the streets, hopping over cars. They took the Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey. Luckily, there was no toll booth going that way to avoid going out of New York. They headed southwest to Newark and hopped on top of a freight train there. While they rested on top of the train, Tsukiko taught Ranma how to call for her with a small bit of magic.

Ranma was too hyped to sleep that first night, so they rode the train all night, with Ranma turning into a girl for not long after they boarded the train. Unfortunately, the train they were on stopped at the middle of the day in a small mining town in Western Pennsylvania near midday. Without any trains leaving the town, they were forced to run again. Ranma stocked up on food and supplies before heading into the countryside.

By dusk, with Ranma turning back into a girl after spending most of the day as a boy, they had only made it a third of the way into Ohio. They needed to find a train or a bus soon. As fast as Ranma was, she could not sprint across the length of the United States. Her cross-country speed would get her there too late.

Ranma's musings were interrupted by her danger sense going off. She snapped an arrow out of the air that was aimed at Tsukiko.

Arrayed in front of her were about two dozen girls ranging in age from about 8 to 16. They were dressed in silver jackets and camo pants. They were all aiming silver bows at Ranma and Tsukiko.

"Go," Ranma commanded Tsukiko. "Find me later."

The fox bounded off. Some of the girls made to fire their arrows at her, but the apparent leader said, "Hold."

Ranma examined their auras. Most of them had very strong auras, comparable to demigods, but two of them stood out. The lesser of the two's aura seemed as if it were a match for Ranma's. The other, the apparent leader—her aura dwarfed her own completely. Ranma frowned. He was obviously dealing with another god. From the summaries that Kasumi made her memorize, she was likely dealing with Artemis, the world's biggest tomboy.

"Why were you traveling with the foreign beast, girl?" the leader demanded. She had intense silvery eyes.

"Foreign?" Ranma asked.

"Yes," the girl said. "It stinks of the East."

"She is my companion," Ranma answered.

"Companion?" the girl said. She flared her nostrils. "You smell foreign too."

"I'm in the country with my close friend," Ranma said, "who is in America visiting her family. We got separated and I'm looking for her."

"Perhaps we can help you look for her?" the girl asked.

Ranma groaned internally. She did not think her curse would sit well with Artemis, if this were she.

"I'm afraid that she's not close," Ranma said. "Evidence points to her being kidnapped."

"All the more reason for us to help," the girl said. "One of the reasons I created my hunters was to protect girls and women." That pretty much confirmed this was Artemis.

"I really don't think. . ." Ranma started to say.

"I'm going to have to insist," the girl stated. "I really can't have a foreign half blood running around unsupervised."

"My friend's mother knows I'm here and will vouch for me," Ranma said.

"And who might that be and why should I care?" Artemis asked with an arched eyebrow.

"My friend's mother is Hestia," Ranma said. "I think she's your aunt?"

"You lie!" a large girl yelled. She had orangey-red hair.

"Peace, Phoebe," Artemis said. "My aunt did have a child in a somewhat similar manner to how Athena does it." She spoke to Ranma again. "I was under the impression that Hestia's child was only accompanied by her husband."

"I avoided the camp," Ranma said, "but came to America. When Kasumi went missing, I got help from my mother to find her."

"What is your name, child?" Artemis said.

"Ran," she answered. She figured that using a short version of her name was better than giving her real name or a made-up one like Ranko. She did not want to give away her real identity, but figured that lying to the goddess was bad too.

"Are you related to Hestia's child's husband?" Artemis asked.

Ranma nodded. "We have the same parents."

"We'll set up a tent for you, Ran," Artemis said. "We'll help you look for Kasumi in the morning."

"My fox companion can track her," Ranma protested. "I'm sure I can find her without needing to bother you, Lady Artemis."

The goddess frowned. "I was serious about not letting a foreign half blood run around unsupervised. You won't need your barbarian beast. My hunters and I can track anything."

Ranma decided it would be easy enough to slip away in the night or the next day when the goddess herself was not watching her, so she allowed herself to be led to the hunters' camp. Two of the hunters set up a tent for her.

When she entered, she suddenly felt very sleepy. She had not slept the night before, so it was somewhat understandable, but she felt something was off. With her last thought she triggered her change so that his curse would not become too imbalanced by morning.\

* * *

"Who are you!?" an angry girl's voice shouted. "Where's Ran?"

Ranma awoke with a start. It was light outside, but earlier than he liked to wake up. A little before 6:00, if he guessed correctly. The angry girl from the previous night, Phoebe, had her head poked into the small tent where Ranma had fallen asleep. He thought that Artemis may have used magic to keep him from running away.

"If you calm down, I'll explain," he said.

He thought things might go smoother if he turned into a girl, so he did so.

"What are you?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm a demigod like you," she said. "I just happened to pick up a shapeshifting curse in a remote area of China about a year and a half ago."

By this time, much of the rest of the Hunters had gathered, including Artemis.

"How is turning into a girl a curse?" Phoebe demanded.

"It had an involuntary trigger until recently," Ranma explained. "And now, even though I can control the trigger, I have to spend equal time in both forms."

"So you're really Hestia's child's husband," Artemis said.

"Yes," she replied.

"Turn back," the goddess demanded.

Ranma sighed. "Sure." She did so. A few of the hunters flinched at his new form.

"I don't appreciate boys sneaking into my camp unannounced," Artemis said.

"With all due respect, Lady Artemis," Ranma said, "I had no intentions of entering your camp."

"My idiot brother may have allowed you to come to Camp Half Blood, but I will not allow you to run around unsupervised in Greek territory."

"Lady Artemis," he said, "it is my duty and responsibility to look for my wife."

"Because she is a woman?" the second-most powerful girl in the group asked angrily.

"Because she is new to the knowledge of her power and is not a warrior," Ranma answered, shoving down the reflexive answer that her father's training wanted him to say.

"And you are? All the more reason to keep you under control," the goddess said firmly.

There was no way that he would stand for this. He slipped into the opening stance of the Thousand Seas Fist. Sealed or not, he would need every advantage to escape. The Thousand Seas would not help him while they were all watching him in the open, but once he got a bit of cover to lose line-of-sight it should help. He dashed into the forest. Really only one of the Hunters, besides Artemis herself, had a chance of catching him.

He made it to the edge of the clearing and hopped into the trees.

"Do you really think you can escape the Goddess of the Hunt, Barbarian Half Blood?" Artemis called.

He jumped to another tree, using his ki to lessen the disturbance and sound he made. He made a few more jumps, zig-zagging away from the clearing with the camp only to come face to face with Artemis.

He briefly considered fighting her, but he did not think that her Hunters would stand for it. There was also no guarantee that she would "fight fair."

"I will admit that you are tricky for a mortal," the goddess said. "Will you come quietly?"

"I can't!" he said. "My honor demands that I find my wife!"

"There's a simple solution," Artemis said with a smirk. "Beasts have no need for honor."

Ranma felt a tingling, similar to his curse. He fell to the ground onto four. . . feet?

He looked at his front legs and saw white fur covering them.

Artemis said, "In honor of your mother, I have made you into her totem. Respect for the gods is more important than your _honor_. Perhaps you will find mercy if you make it back to your homeland." She laughed as she walked away.

Ranma dashed away in the opposite direction.

His heart rate increased and he felt panic threatening to overcome him. He could tell that he was small, perhaps the size of a small-to-medium-sized dog. He wondered if this were how Ryouga felt. At least people did not eat foxes, although he suddenly felt a _completely rational_ distaste for fur clothing.

He thought about what had happened to him. The tingle was familiar. He wondered if the new curse replaced his old one. He concentrated on the shape-changing trigger his mother had given him and turned back to himself, clothes and all. Relief flooded him. For the first time ever, he was actually thankful for Jusenkyo.

Out of curiosity, he tried changing again. There was a bit of resistance, as if the curse did not know which direction to go. After a very brief moment, he changed into his girl form. With a frown, she tried it again and forced the magic to go in the other direction. He dropped again to all fours. He shook his head, and turned back into a man.

Very odd. He wondered if the new curse messed up the time requirements of his old curse. He hoped he did not need to spend a third of his life as a fox.

Ranma summoned Tsukiko, who appeared after ten minutes. They jogged westward as Ranma explained to his companion what had happened. Tsukiko laughed when she heard that Ranma had been cursed to turn into a fox. She insisted on seeing it and then laughed again to see that he only had one tail and was quite small compared to her.

"Hey," he said after turning back, "I'm only 17. Don't you have to be 100-years old to get your second tail?"

"True for the most part, Lord Ranma," she said. "You can also receive them as gifts from Lady Inari."

* * *

That evening Ranma made a campfire in a stone-ringed fire pit in an Ohio state park to cook a small dinner. She preferred to be a man during the day if she could help it, so that meant she was currently a woman. Dinner was some canned soup that she had picked up in Pennsylvania. Tsukiko was off hunting. Ranma was not desperate enough to go hunting with her in her new form. Before she ate, she absently scraped some into the fire for her mother and mother-in-law as had been her custom over the last week and a half.

She was somewhat startled when Hestia appeared next to the campfire.

"Ranma!" she said. "Artemis was bragging how she turned you into a fox for not going back to Camp!"

Ranma scratched the back of her head and chuckled. "Funny story. The mechanism for my other shape-changing curse allowed me to change back to normal. It seems it just added to the shapes I can change into."

To Ranma's relief, Hestia started to giggle. She had not known if there were a divine code requiring Hestia to enforce Artemis's punishment.

"I'm grateful that you managed to get out of your fix," the goddess said. "I wouldn't have been allowed to reverse it assuming I ever found you."

"I hope you aren't offended," Ranma said, "but your niece was completely unreasonable and seemed not a little racist."

Hestia giggled again. "My family isn't known for its reasonableness, but I don't think my niece is so much racist as wary of outside Powers. If you had been a normal Japanese girl, she would have been fine with you."

Ranma rolled her eyes. "She seemed to think I was disrespecting her. I'll have you know I was extraordinarily polite."

This time Hestia started laughing out of control. "Ranma," she finally said, "extraordinarily polite for you is still rough around the edges. To be honest the only reason I let you be this relaxed around me is because I like you quite a bit. Artemis thinks any male that doesn't bow or scrape before her is rude, with the exception of her father."

"What about her brother?" Ranma asked curiously.

"Despite being somewhat fond of her brother, she thinks he's an uncouth idiot who is barely able to be left alone without minding."

"Huh," Ranma said, scratching her head. "She reminds me a little of one of my sisters-in-law."

Hestia rolled her eyes. "Pray that you never end up before one of my brothers. None of them would take your laxity for authority figures well."

Ranma chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. "About that. Do you have anything you could do to protect me from your family? I tried hard with Artemis, but I've never dealt with authority figures well."

Hestia smiled fondly at her. "I have something that should help a tiny bit. I was planning to do this anyway, once I heard that Kasumi was missing. Would you like to be my Champion?"

"What would that entail?" Ranma asked.

"It would protect you from fire, and possibly give you some minor power over it. It would also give you the right to call on me for aid, as long as you don't abuse it. The main thing is that while you were on quests for me, my family would not be able to interfere with you. If you mouthed off to one, they would still punish you, but Artemis would not be able to insist you stay with her or go back to camp."

"Would I have to do anything special?" Ranma asked.

"I would occasionally have tasks for you to do, but as your beloved mother-in-law, you would be doing them anyway, right?" Hestia's eyes flashed with false pleasantness, as if daring her to say otherwise.

Ranma rubbed the back of her neck again. "Right," she said nervously.

"Do you agree to become my Champion and rescue my daughter, Ranma Saotome?" Hestia asked formally.

"I agree," Ranma responded.

Hestia reached forward and gently pulled Ranma's head near her. She kissed Ranma's forehead. Ranma felt a warmth enter her. On the surface it was warm and comforting, but underneath the fire burned powerfully.

"Good luck, my Champion," Hestia said. She stepped into the fire and disappeared.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I was sorely tempted to end this chapter after transformation into a fox, but decided to have mercy on you and forgo giving you another short chapter in addition to the evil cliffhanger.

Fun fact: the word barbarian originates in the Greek word for foreigner. Evidently, it was a kind of onomatopoeia for foreign speech: bar bar bar.


	10. Chapter 10: Frienemies

**Author's Note:** Their were some comments in the reviews about Artemis and whether Ranma was polite enough for her. The Greek gods viewed anything other than complete submission as disrespectful. It didn't really have anything to do with Artemis's misandrist tendencies. Hestia isn't actually much better. She just likes Ranma, so let's him get away with more. The reason why Artemis didn't trust Ranma even as a girl is because they hate competition. It didn't have anything to do with actual race.

* * *

The next morning Ranma and Tsukiko went searching for another rail line. Ranma planned on staying female until mid-morning.

Before they had gotten far, Ranma heard a familiar voice yell in Japanese, "Saotome Ranma, prepare to die!"

Ranma leaped out of the way of the umbrella strike.

"Sorry, I don't have time to play right now, Ryouga," she said in the same language.

"You'll make time!" Ryouga said. "Stop running."

Ranma stopped and turned toward Ryouga. "I'm serious, Ryouga. Kasumi has been kidnapped. I need to find her and I could use your help."

"Someone kidnapped Kasumi?" Ryouga asked incredulously. "Who would dare?"

"Come on, Ryouga," she said. "I'll tell you what's happened as we go."

She signaled to Tsukiko to start running. She followed the fox and Ryouga matched pace with her.

"Hey, you're serious, aren't you?" Ryouga said. "You've even been calling me by name."

"Deadly," Ranma said. "Hey, Ryouga, my mom says you're a demigod. Do you know who your divine parent is?"

"Why would she say that?" Ryouga asked nervously.

"She would know," Ranma said.

"Why? Is she one too?"

Ranma thought for a second and figured that since he was asking about his divine parent, she could give out who hers was. "Actually, Mom is Inari, but keep it under wraps, okay?"

"Wait!" Ryouga said laughing. "You mean your mom can be a man or a woman too?"

"Laugh it up, Bacon Brains," Ranma said grumpily.

"So were you always destined for the Spring of Drowned Girl?" Ryouga asked.

"Not necessarily," Ranma answered, "but Mom says that a fair number of her kids have ended up in a similar predicament.

"So who's yours?" Ranma asked again.

"Viðar," he replied.

"Who's that?" Ranma asked.

"One of the Æsir," Ryouga responded.

"Æsir?" Ranma asked.

"They're Norse gods," Ryouga explained.

"Norse?" Ranma asked.

Ryouga snorted. "Don't you know anything?"

"Well excuse me for not having a vested interest in knowing who the Norse are."

"The Norse were the ancestors of the people who live in Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway, Sweden. Places like that."

"So how did that happen?" Ranma asked. "Did Viðar vacation in Japan? That's how Kasumi was. . . born." She hesitated a little over the proper word for how Kasumi was created.

"Kasumi's a demigod too?" Ryouga asked.

"Daughter of Hestia, Greek Goddess of the Hearth and Home."

Ryouga paused before admitting, "Mom got lost and ended up in Iceland in the middle of a blizzard somehow. Viðar gave her shelter and she ended up staying with him for a while."

Ranma could not help but giggle a little.

"You think my family problem is funny?" Ryouga said angrily.

"I know I shouldn't laugh," Ranma said, "but you have to admit that it gets you into interesting circumstances. It was just interesting that it did for your mom too."

"Yeah, my feet get me into almost as many problems as your mouth does you," Ryouga said.

Ranma laughed again. "I probably deserve that."

Ryouga was silent, so Ranma looked at him. He was staring at her oddly.

"What?" she asked.

"You admitted that you deserved something!" he said.

"My life has been a lot less stressful recently—other than Kasumi being kidnapped," Ranma said.

"Why's that?" Ryouga asked. "You finally pick a fiancée?"

"You hadn't heard?" Ranma asked. "That's right."

Ryouga came to a dead stop. "You picked a fiancée!? Who was it? It was Akane, right? That's why you're trying to save Kasumi."

"No," Ranma said. "It was Kasumi and she's no longer my fiancée."

"No longer?" Ryouga repeated numbly.

"Got married about a week and a half ago," Ranma explained.

"That was sudden," Ryouga said as they started running again.

"Kasumi found out who here real mom was and got invited to America to meet her family," she said. "Akane and I had decided we made better siblings than fiancés. Mom suggested that I marry Kasumi so that I could protect her."

"Good job with that," Ryouga snarked.

Ranma slugged him in the shoulder, _hard_. "You think I'm not thinking that myself!?" she yelled. "I'm beating myself up because I left her alone for a day so that I could rebalance my curse because I was worried about people finding out!"

"Rebalance your curse?" Ryouga asked.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "My mom kind of gave me control over my curse. . ."

"Really!?" he exclaimed.

"You wouldn't like the solution," Ranma cautioned. "I can control it, but only if I spend an equal amount of time in each form."

"Ah," Ryouga sighed.

"The summer camp we were at was keeping me in public too long, so I was spending too much time as a man," she said. "I left so I could spend time as a woman."

"Do you know where she is?" Ryouga asked.

"My friend Tsuskiko here, can track her," Ranma said.

"The fox?" Ryouga asked.

"I _am_ the son of Inari," Ranma explained.

"Not right now," Ryouga said with a smirk.

Ranma slugged him again.

Ryouga laughed.

They ran in silence for a while.

"What's Viðar's domain?" Ranma asked. "Travelling? Wandering?"

Ryouga smirked at her. "Vengeance."

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Figures."

* * *

After having trouble finding a train on the rail lines they encountered, Tsukiko recommended that they head northwest toward Chicago. Ranma was reluctant to head north since, as near as Tsukiko could tell, Kasumi was in Los Angeles; the fox convinced him it was faster.

By the evening of the July 18, the day after they met up with Ryouga, they had made it to Chicago. Ranma was feeling slightly discouraged because they still had most of the United States to traverse, but was far from ready to give up.

In Chicago, they had the choice to head south toward St. Louis or to head west toward Denver. Tsukiko did not know which was the better choice, so they flipped a coin and hopped on a westbound train.

They had some good luck until the middle of the next day when the train they were on stopped in a small farm town in the middle of Nebraska. From what they could tell, the train would be heading back east once it loaded itself with grain. They set off again at a very quick jog.

Before they had gone too far, they heard a _very_ loud roar. Ranma looked up and saw a large lion bounding toward them.

Ranma groaned. "The Nemean Lion. I knew I'd run into this thing."

"What do you know about it?" Ryouga asked.

"Just that it's big and its skin is real tough," Ranma said.

Ranma rotated the ring his mother gave him and the clawed knuckledusters appeared in his hands.

"How am I going to get you out of the Cat Fist now that your curse isn't triggered by water anymore, Ranma?" Ryouga asked nervously.

"My mom changed it so that I'm mostly cognizant during the Cat Fist now. I haven't tried it yet though," he said, equally nervous.

Ranma's nerves increased. Rather than fear, he started to feel irritation that the other feline was interfering with his quest to free his mate. Ranma hissed and crouched to all fours. He clawed at the metal claws that his dam had given him to remove them. He preferred the retractable, glowing claws he could make. The metal claws hampered his movements.

He leaped at the roaring obstacle. He sensed that his frienemy followed him while the canine companion his dam had sent him held back. He landed on the obstacle's head and swiped at its neck with his claws. The pelt of the obstacle stopped his claws. That had never happened before! He yowled in frustration.

The obstacle roared and tried to shake him off, but he clung to its mane. He flipped around and gouged out both eyes with two swipes of his claws. The obstacle roared again, this time in pain. The sudden jerking that accompanied the roar flung him off. He landed with in a crouch.

"Hold it down," he hissed.

His frienemy looked started for a moment and then nodded. His frienemy leaped into the air and swung his rainshield at the obstacles neck. The blow sent the obstacle crashing to the ground. He leaped at the obstacles stunned form and speared it through both bleeding, ruined eyes with his claws. The obstacle shuddered and then quieted.

He sat on the corpse of the obstacle, satisfied with himself. His frienemy and his canine companion looked nervous. He himself felt unsure. He knew that it would be more difficult to rescue his mate in his current condition.

He yelped in surprise as the corpse disappeared in a puff of smoke. He found himself sitting on the flat skin of the obstacle. It was soft. He curled up on top of the skin.

"Stay," he hissed. "Other me will return."

The soft fur of the skin and the hot summer sun quickly lulled him to sleep.

* * *

Ranma awoke and sat up. He noticed that his mother's gift was back on his finger.

"That was weird," he said. "I actually remember what happened. The way I was thinking was. . . foreign."

"You spoke!" Ryouga exclaimed.

"Yeah it was like my cat side knew all the human stuff, but mostly couldn't be bothered to use it," Ranma said.

He stood up and then examined the skin. It was shaped like a fur cloak. He stored it in one of his ki pockets. It must be one of the "spoils" they talked about at camp.

"How long was I out?" Ranma asked.

"Not long," Ryouga said. "Maybe ten minutes."

"Let's get going," Ranma said.

By the end of the day, they had made it to Denver. Tsukiko was uncertain if they needed to go to Salt Lake or if there was a way to start heading south from Denver. Ranma ended up buying a map of the Western United States at a gas station.

After studying the map, he said, "It looks like the major rail lines go through Salt Lake. We can find something going south there."

Tsukiko said, "If we take Interstate 70, we can avoid going all the way to Salt Lake, Lord Ranma."

"This map doesn't show any railroads that parallel Interstate 70," Ranma said. "Running along it would be too slow."

"We could climb on top of a semi-truck or even inside the back of one," Ryouga said. "I've done it before."

"Really?" Ranma said. "You don't seem the type to want to do that."

"Ryouga shrugged. "Sometimes you just get tired of walking."

They hopped onto a semi headed up into the Rockies early the next morning. By night they were in Las Vegas. The truck pulled into a truck stop on the north end of Las Vegas. In order to make sure they found one going south, they decided to roof hop through the city. Their map said they were about four or five hours away, so they thought they might make it to LA that night. Unlike Manhattan and Chicago, Las Vegas was spread out rather than built up. Avoiding the "Strip," they found roof hopping easy.

"Lady Ranma," Tsukiko said. Ranma hated being called "Lady" even worse than "Lord" but had decided it was a lost cause to try and stop Tsukiko from using the titles. "I am detecting a large concentration of demigods nearby. Several of them were at the camp were you and Lady Kasumi were staying."

"How can you tell?" Ryouga asked curiously.

"Their scents lingered on Lady Ranma when we first met and one of the scents is quite strong," the fox said.

"Percy?" Ranma said. "Why is he still here? He should be in LA by now. Let's detour and see what's up."

Tsukiko led them to a building with the name "Lotus Hotel and Casino" on it.

Ranma changed back to male in order to meet with Percy. As Ranma moved to enter the building, Tsukiko said, "I recommend that you not enter, Lord Ranma. There are very strong enchantments on this building."

Ranma hesitated. Very bad things were supposed to happen if Percy did not succeed in his quest and Percy only had one more day left. On the other hand, he had a gut feeling that the Solstice was also the deadline for finding his wife.

Ranma wished he had something that would make another him, like a real version of Cologne's Splitting Cat Hairs technique. He sighed and was about to enter anyway when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover came stumbling out the doors.

"Percy!" Ranma called. "What are you doing in Las Vegas!? Shouldn't you be in Los Angeles by now?"

"Ranma!?" Percy exclaimed, looking confused. "I have the same question except why aren't you at Camp?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The letter ð is an old Germanic letter that's no longer used in any language other than Icelandic. It makes a "th" sound. I used it here for kicks because there are versions of Viðar's name that don't use it. The letter Æ is nowadays usually written AE in British English and E in American English. It makes the "long e" sound.


	11. Chapter 11: Reunions

"Someone kidnapped Kasumi," Ranma told Percy. He looked over at Annabeth. "I figure it was your buddy Luke. He went missing at the same time."

"No way would Luke do that!" Annabeth exclaimed.

Ranma shrugged. Either he was right and he put the kid in traction or he was wrong and he put the guy who did it in traction. It was not a big deal to him, either way.

"My mom sent me a companion to help track her," he continued. "This is Tsukiko. From what she can tell, Kasumi's in Los Angeles."

"How could she send you a companion into the West?" Annabeth asked.

Ranma stared at her like she was stupid.

"What?" Annabeth said, offended. "It's a legitimate question!"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "The U.S. has more Japanese immigrants than Greek." He paused thoughtfully. "Although there might be more Italians, if there's anything to the notion that the Roman gods are the same as the Greek ones. Regardless, my mom has shrines all up and down the West Coast of the U.S. and even a few on the East Coast. The Shinto and other Eastern gods simply choose not to rock the boat most of the time."

"I'd like to help you, Ranma," Percy said, "but we're running out of time on our own quest. If you're still looking the day after tomorrow. . ."

"No problem," Ranma said. "Me and my buddy Ryouga can handle it."

The three demigods and the satyr exchanged greetings.

"What happened anyway?" Ranma asked. "You've only got one day left!"

"We actually made decent time," Percy said, "but we fell into the Lotus Eaters' trap. There's something funny about the way time passes inside. I swear we were only in there for a few hours, but you say we only have one day left?"

Ranma nodded. "It's late at night on the 20th."

Percy swore under his breath. "Any ideas on how we can get there before morning?"

"We were going to run," Ranma said. "Tsukiko thinks we can make it in about eight hours."

"It's almost 300 miles!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"How much in kilometers?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know—maybe 450?" Annabeth answered.

"Sounds about right," Ranma said.

Annabeth, Percy, and Grover gaped at them.

Finally, Percy said, "I don't think we can manage that."

"Maybe a taxi?" Annabeth said.

"That would cost a lot of money," Grover said.

"We have these," Percy held up a card. "Supposedly we can buy anything with them."

"We could fit three in a taxi, but five plus a very large fox?" Annabeth questioned.

"You can shrink down to normal size, can't you, Tsukiko?" Ranma asked.

The fox nodded her head. "I can, Lord Ranma."

The Greeks started upon hearing the fox talk.

"No problem then," Ranma said with a smirk.

"No way, Ranma," Ryouga protested angrily. "I refuse to be treated like the Old Ghoul treated Mousse."

" _Relax, P-chan_ ," Ranma said in Japanese. " _I'll be doing it too._ "

" _What?_ " Ryouga exclaimed in the same language. " _Your girl form isn't that smaller and it's hardly the same!_ "

Ranma sighed. " _I picked up another cursed form from a Greek goddess who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Luckily, thanks to what my mom did, I can control it._ "

" _Oh?_ " Ryouga said. " _What is it?_ "

" _A white fox_."

" _Like Tsukiko?_ " Ryouga asked.

" _No, normal-sized_ ," Ranma said.

" _Is it a girl fox?_ " Ryouga said with a smirk.

" _I don't know_ ," Ranma said, embarrassed.

" _You promised you wouldn't tell, Ranma_ ," Ryouga protested.

" _You told me that you would help me rescue Kasumi_ ," Ranma said. " _These guys are honorable. They won't take advantage of you and we won't tell them how to trigger it._ "

Hesitantly Ryouga nodded.

"Anyway," Ranma said in English. "Ryouga and I have shapeshifting curses that we can take advantage of to be smaller."

"Curses?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, we have limited control over the activation," Ranma said. "I hope you don't mind, if we don't tell you how to trigger them. We'd also like you to keep them a secret. Ryouga is especially sensitive about his curse. You agree?"

"Sure," Percy said. Annabeth and Grover nodded agreement.

"Ryouga turns into a little black piglet and I turn into a white fox," Ranma said. "We'll be right back."

Ranma, Tsukiko, and Ryouga went around the corner and Ranma pulled a water bottle out of a ki pocket.

"You figured out how to do ki pockets for your gear, right?" Ranma asked Ryouga.

"Yeah," Ryouga responded as his pack disappeared. "I usually don't do it when human because it sacrifices too much ki to store all my stuff."

"Good," Ranma said. "None of the others could carry your pack unless we got Percy wet."

"He has a curse?" Ryouga asked.

"No, it's a demigod blessing," Ranma said. "He gets stronger when wet because he's the son of the Greek sea god."

"Huh."

"You ready?" Ranma asked.

"I guess," Ryouga replied, irritated.

Ranma poured water on him, and then put the water bottle back in his ki pocket and transformed into a fox. Tsukiko shrank down to the same size.

"Just so you know, Lady Ranma," Tsukiko said. "Your fox form is a female."

Ranma yelped in irritation. She hoped it counted toward her girl time.

Ryouga squealed in amusement.

The three of them trotted back to where the Greeks stood.

Annabeth squealed, "Cute!" when she saw them. Her hands started twitching and she kept looking from one to the other.

"What's wrong, Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"I can't decide which is the cutest!" she said. "The pig is so tiny with its cute little handkerchief, but the foxes are white and fluffy."

"And this is important, why?" Percy asked.

"I've never seen her like this before," Grover muttered.

Annabeth shot Percy a dirty look before seizing Ryouga and picking him up. Ranma shook her head. She personally thought that Ryouga's pig form was kind of ugly, but obviously there was something about it that made "real" girls act like idiots.

While she was musing about whether it was the fact that she often had testosterone going through her system that inoculated her from this dementia that many girls seemed to get, Annabeth set Ryouga down and pounced on her.

"So soft! So white!" Annabeth muttered while stroking her back and tail.

Ranma was frozen in panic. While she admitted that being stroked felt nice, her Nerima-born instincts urged her to flee before a fiancée found her. She forced herself to calm down as she was mostly out of that mess. She did not think that Kasumi would hit her for this, even if Akane might on her behalf. She reminded herself that there was a very large ocean separating her from Akane.

"I think you're making Ranma nervous, Annabeth," Percy drawled.

"Nonsense," Annabeth said.

"He's practically shivering and his eyes are wide," Grover corroborated.

"Lord Ranma has had some negative experiences with over-possessive females," Tsukiko said. Ranma was grateful that her companion decided not to give away her gender change.

"Wouldn't he say something if he was bothered?" she said.

"I actually use magic to speak," Tsukiko said. "My mouth, tongue, and throat aren't right for doing it. Lord Ranma and his friend have not learned how do it."

Annabeth backed off and started to pet Tsukiko. The other fox seemed to enjoy it as she seemed to almost purr.

While Annabeth was pampering Tsukiko, Grover managed to hail a cab.

"You want me to take you to Los Angeles?" the cab driver said doubtfully. "I'm going to need to see a lot of cash up front. That's going to cost about a thousand dollars."

"Do you take casino cards?" Percy asked.

"Some of them," the driver said. "I'd have to swipe it to make sure."

Percy handed him the card. When the driver swiped it, an infinity symbol appeared on the display.

"It looks like you're good to go kids," the driver said. "If you want to take the dogs and the pig, there's a $50 cleaning surcharge."

"That's fine," Percy said. "We want to go to the Santa Monica Pier."

Ranma glanced at Tsukiko in confusion.

" _I have magic that makes me appear as a dog to the uninformed, Lady Ranma_ ," she said quietly in Japanese. " _I've extended it to you._ "

Ranma nodded.

Somehow, to Ranma's disgust, she ended up on Annabeth's lap during the trip. This initially made her quite nervous, but she relaxed into the girl's gentle petting eventually.

* * *

Ranma woke up as the car came to a stop. It was light out and it looked like the sun was about to come up.

"We're here, kids. Santa Monica Pier," the taxi driver said.

Everyone hopped out of the car and the driver handed an electronic signing pad to Percy.

After the driver pulled away, Grover asked, "How'd you sign it? I assume you didn't use your real name."

"Seymour Butts," Percy said with a grin.

"Ah, a classic," Grover murmured in appreciation.

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

Ranma gave a foxy grin. Thirteen-year-old boys were pretty much the same all over the world.

Ranma trotted off to find a place to change back.

"We'll be right back," Tsukiko told the Greeks as she and Ryouga followed Ranma.

Ranma found a restroom that they could duck out of view behind and changed back to a male human and Tsukiko grew to her normal size. Ranma pulled a thermos out of his ki pocket that he had acquired once he had met up with Ryouga. Once Ryouga was dressed, they returned to where Annabeth and Grover were waiting on the beach.

"Percy already went into the ocean," Annabeth said.

"That's cool," Ranma said. "We're going to take off. Thanks for the ride and good luck!"

The rest of them all said their goodbyes.

"Lady Kasumi is close by," Tsukiko said. "Less than a kilometer, in fact."

"That's lucky," Ryouga said. "Los Angeles is a large city."

Tsukiko led them to a warehouse that was close to the beach. The front door was unlocked. The interior was mostly open. Kasumi was tied to a chair. Luke and five kids his age with normal demigod auras stood in front of her.

"So it was you," Ranma commented. "Why'd you take my wife, Luke?"

"It wasn't anything personal, Ranma," Luke said with a grin. "She's just a tool to get my revenge on the gods."

"So you don't like your pop," Ranma said. "Big whoop. Been there; done that; moved past it."

"You have no idea what my father has done to me!" snarled Luke. "Your pain can't compare to mine!"

Ranma snorted. "Did your pop ever cover you in fish products and throw you in a pit of starving cats? I didn't think so."

"What? No one would do that! You're lying!" Luke shouted at him.

"My pop did it to me at least half a dozen times," Ranma said. The only reason he could talk about it so casually right now is that the worst of the symptoms of the Cat Fist were gone. "Kasumi and Ryouga have seen the results of that 'brilliant training idea' of Pop's."

Luke looked at Kasumi and Ryouga who both nodded.

He snarled, "So your father was evil too. That doesn't mean I can't get my revenge."

Ranma smirked. "See, here's the thing. My pop isn't actually evil, he's just lazy and stupid. I've mostly forgiven him. I don't trust him, but I've forgiven him. I'm willing to be your pop isn't evil either."

"I don't care what you think!" Luke said. "You won't stop me from ushering in the New Order and your too innocent and too happy wife will be the host for the King of the Titans!"

"Not likely," Ranma said with his most infuriating grin.

"Who's going to stop me?" Luke shouted. "You! You already know I can beat you!"

Ranma started to laugh. He bent over from laughing.

"Is this guy for real, Ranma?" Ryouga said. "His aura says he's only at about Kunou's level."

Ranma finally stopped laughing. "He thinks because he can beat me with a weapon I've only picked up a handful of times he's better than me!" He started laughing again.

He finally stopped for real. "Thanks, Luke. I haven't laughed that hard since the Tomboy tried her own cooking."

"Ranma!" Kasumi said with a smile. "There's no need to be that rude to either my sister or this ruffian. It doesn't hurt to be polite even to disreputable people."

Ranma waved agreement to his wife. "I'll get you out of here and we'll go do something nice as an apology."

"Stop ignoring me!" Luke said, drawing his sword.

"What?" Ranma asked. "You're still here?"

With a wordless shout, Luke charged.

"You mind handling the mooks, Buddy?" Ranma asked Ryouga.

"I don't even know why you bothered dragging me along, Ranma," Ryouga said. "These guys aren't worth my time."

Ranma side-stepped Luke's charge and disarmed him with a strike to his wrist. He thought about toying with the younger teen, but figured a quick defeat would hurt his pride more. He jabbed Luke hard in the kidneys and then dislocated both shoulders.

Luke lay gasping in pain on the floor.

"You're lucky you didn't actually hurt my wife, Castellan," he said. "So I'll just leave you with a warning. Don't mess with her again."

"What's taking you so long, Ryouga?" he asked as Ryouga knocked his third opponent unconscious. The other two ran. Ryouga let them go.

Ryouga huffed in response. "These guys really weren't worth my time. Why did you drag me along again?"

"I thought they might have some monsters with them or something," Ranma said. "Sorry for wasting your time."

Ryouga shrugged it off. "You couldn't know. No sense taking chances with Kasumi."

Ranma nodded agreement as he walked over and untied Kasumi.

"Sorry it took so long, Kasumi," he said as he hugged her. "The United States is bigger than I thought."

"How'd you get here?" Kasumi asked.

"Mom sent Tsukiko here to help me find you, then we ran or hitched rides on trains or trucks. We picked up Ryouga on the way."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kasumi," Tsukiko said.

"How'd they talk you into marrying this jerk, Kasumi," Ryouga asked as they exited the warehouse.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Tsukiko," Kasumi responded. She looked at Ryouga with a frown and said. "I know this is how you play two with each other, but you ought to consider being politer to each other."

Ranma and Ryouga both shrank into themselves a little, embarrassed at the scolding.

"Thanks for coming, Buddy," Ranma said to Ryouga.

Ryouga rubbed the back of his head. "No problem. It's not like I had anything better to do."

"I thank you too, Ryouga," Kasumi said.

"I'll head out, guys," Ryouaga said. "I don't want to be a third wheel."

"See you later!" Ranma said, as Ryouga walked off. Kasumi called farewell also.


	12. Chapter 12: Throwdown on the Beach

Ranma woke with a start. He and Kasumi had been dozing on the beach while Tsukiko kept watch. A large aura was flaring not far from where they were.

"Do you know who that is, Tsukiko?" he asked his fox companion.

"I don't, Lord Ranma," the fox replied.

"I better check it out," Ranma said. "You two follow me cautiously. Don't get too close."

"Be careful, Ranma," Kasumi said, giving him a quick kiss.

Ranma bounded towards the aura. He encountered Percy standing in the surf facing off against a biker type, who was the one with the large aura.

He smirked. Ryouga would be so mad that he missed this. It was just as well, considering how close they were to the beach.

Grover and Annabeth stood off to the side. Annabeth was holding an open backpack that oozed power. An old-fashioned helm on the biker's motorcycle also glowed with power to his ki sight. The motorcycle had a pennant with a snarling, tusked boar's head with a cutlass and a machine gun crossed behind it.

"Hey now," he said, "you aren't going to start a rumble without me, are you, Percy?" Ranma said.

"Stay out of this, punk," the biker said. "It doesn't concern you and you're in over your head."

Ranma gave his most infuriating smirk. "Heard it before, but Ranma Saotome doesn't lose."

"Saotome, huh? Arty said she took care of you," the biker said.

"And yet here I am," Ranma said.

"You itching for a fight, punk?" the biker asked.

Ranma snorted. "This whole trip has been boring. Bacon breath even took off before I could get a good spar out of him." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, Perce, is this guy Miss Piggy's dad?"

"Yeah, this is Clarisse's dad," Percy responded.

"You know Clarisse?" Ares asked.

Ranma nodded. "Small time bully—got a mouth on her, but not a lot of skill."

"Ranma, you say that about everyone," Percy said.

Ranma shrugged. "Not impressed with you Greeks."

"Why don't you put your fists where you mouth is, punk?" said Ares.

"Sure," Ranma said, "you don't look any tougher than the Flaming Chicken or the Dragon Princess."

That was pure bluster and Ranma knew it. Ares's aura was much bigger than Saffron's or Herb's, but he knew that he had a much better chance of defeating the Greek war god than Percy did.

"Your mouth is going to cost you, Punk," Ares said.

"That's what I keep hearing," Ranma said. "But I got to say, I doubt you can do worse than my pop did to me."

Ares smirked. "You seem to have a thing for pigs. If you lose, I turn you, your wife, and your friends into pigs and I walk off with the Bolt and the Helm. If you win, you get the Bolt and the Helm and your buddy tries to make it back to the Empire State in time."

Ranma's jaw dropped. No way in any of the hells was that going to happen. Ryouga would never let him hear the end of it!

"What's the matter, tough guy?" Ares said with a smirk. "The price too steep for you?"

Ranma controlled his features and shrugged. "It's not like I'm going to lose."

He knew that Ares had more experience and was likely stronger and tougher than he was. He knew he could not outlast him either. He was betting on two things, that being on Earth severely restricted the war god and that he had never had the experience of fighting a high-caliber Eastern martial artist before.

Ares pulled out a short length of thick chain and a large, serrated knife and stalked toward Ranma. Ranma needed to test Ares's speed. He gathered his confidence and shouted, "Fierce Tiger's Pride!"

His ki burst out of his hands and flew towards Ares. The war god raised his beefy arm and blocked the ki ball with a studded leather bracer. The impact jarred the biker, but he kept his feet.

"Not bad, kid," said Ares, "but not good enough."

Ranma nodded to himself. Ares was a power fighter who preferred to block rather than dodge. He did not seem to rely on speed over much.

Ranma put his hands in his pockets and assumed his standard relaxed stance. He let the war god approach.

Ares swung the chain at him and when Ranma dodged, swiped at him with the knife. Ranma admitted that his opponent's form was very good, but he was a power fighter and, after over a year of fighting Ryouga, Ranma knew how to handle power fighters.

He ducked in and use the Roasting Chestnut Fist to hammer the war god's ribs.

He ducked out of range as Ares laughed. "I admit you've got some skills, punk, but you're going to need more if you want to more than tickle me."

Ranma twisted his ring to activate his knuckle dusters. He ducked inside the chain's reach and dodged the knife. He used the Roasting Chestnut Fist to hammer Ares's ribs again. This time, the war god grimaced.

"Okay, you've got some bite to you, but it's not enough," Ares snarled.

Raanma nodded to himself. He knew it would come down to the Ascending Dragon Strike. He only hoped that Ares had not seen it before as he slipped into the Soul of Ice. To distract the war god, Ranma started talking, "Why'd you frame your cousin?"

"Things have been too boring," Ares said as he swung the chain horizontally. Ranma hopped over it and struck Ares in the head. "A good war will liven things up. With Dad and my two uncles at each other's throats, we'll have a war like we haven't seen since the Titanomachy."

"So family doesn't mean much to you?" Ranma said as he kicked the back of Ares's knees.

"Family feuds are the best ones," Ares said. "They really get the blood pumping."

"Why now?" Ranma asked, looking for something to enrage the hot-blooded god.

The war good seemed distracted for the first time in the fight. Ranma got some good shots in, but they did not seem to make an impact on Ares.

"A voice in my dreams. . ." Ares said. "From the pit. . . It told me to act. . . It promised me blood!"

"Kronos," Percy said from his position in the surf. Ranma recognized the name of the Greek Titan of the Harvest, who was overthrown by the eldest of the current Greek gods.

A dark, heavy presence bore down on the beach before fading.

"Don't say that name, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth yelled.

Ranma smirked. He had a lever. Ares was as good as beaten.

"So," he drawled. "The mighty war god is revealed to be the lap dog of his grandpa."

"Ares is the lap dog of no one!" he yelled.

"Yip, yip," Ranma said. "Do you fetch other things for your gramps besides your daddy's and uncle's toys?"

"Shut up!" Ares roared. "I'm going to wipe that smirk off your face by taking your head off your shoulders."

"Catch me if you can!" Ranma called.

He led Ares around in a spiral and threw the uppercut that launched the Ascending Dragon Strike. A huge tornado formed and tossed Ares up into the air. The size of Ares's aura causing the tornado to spin faster than normal. The spectators all withdrew. Ranma had to use his ki to stick to the ground.

Finally, the tornado died down. Ranma could tell that Ares still had plenty of ki, but all of his useable ki was used up. Ares plummeted to the ground. Ranma switched his ring so that the blades protruded from his knuckle dusters.

He pressed the tip of one of the blades against Ares's neck. "Yield," he said.

Ares snarled and Ranma pressed enough for a small amount of shiny black liquid to ooze from his skin.

"I yield," the war god said, "but for this indignity, I curse you so that this weapon will fail you when you need it the most."

Ranma snorted. "This weapon is just a temporary convenience. It's only a matter of time before I replicate its effects with my true weapon."

"That trick won't catch me again," Ares said.

"I don't expect it to," Ranma said, "but I always find a way to win."

He backed off and Ares disappeared in a flash.

"What's your true weapon, Ranma?" Annabeth asked.

"My body, of course," Ranma said with a smirk.

Some bird women approached and talked to Percy. Percy offered them the helm from the motorcycle. The police, who had come during the fight, were convinced through the help of the Mist that Ares had been a kidnapper and that Ranma had helped free the younger kids. Percy and Annabeth managed to scam some airline tickets back to New York for the five of them through a combination of appealing to sympathy and offers of 'reward' appliances from his sleazy step-dad's store.

At the airport terminal, Ranma said goodbye to Tsukiko, who had refused to fly as a pet on an airplane. "Thanks for all your help, Tsukiko," he said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"It was my pleasure, Lord Ranma," the fox said.

"Will you come see me again?" Ranma asked.

"I would love to," Tsukiko said, "but they won't allow me at your camp. I will find you when you return to Japan."

"I look forward to it," Ranma said. He gave the fox a hug. Kasumi also gave the fox a hug before they entered the airport.

Ranma managed to get tickets at the back of the plane for himself and Kasumi, well away from the other three. When they boarded the plane he ducked into the bathroom and came out a woman. When they left the plane, they made sure they were the last to leave and lingered so that no one would see her change back in the breezeway.

"What took you so long?" Percy complained.

"Surely you don't begrudge me a few minutes relaxing with my husband after a trying ordeal, do you, Mr. Jackson?" Kasumi asked.

Percy quickly shook his head while Annabeth giggled.

They took a taxi to the Empire State Building, but Ranma and Kasumi remained by the taxi.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Percy asked.

Ranma shook his head. "Me and authority figures don't really mesh. I'd really rather avoid the big guy."

"It's for the best, really," Kasumi agreed.

"Good luck!" they both called as the other three entered the building.

They reentered the cab and rode to Camp Half Blood.

* * *

The last weeks of camp were pretty tame, other than the furor over Luke's betrayal. The Hermes Cabin had made Kasumi and Ranma nice funeral shrouds that they got to burn—much nicer than the one that the Ares Cabin made for Percy.

The traditional bead for the year had a trident on one side and fox head surrounded by fire on the other side. A two-sided bead was unusual, but this was the first time that two quests had been successfully completed in a summer.

It was time for goodbyes and Ranma and Kasumi were seeing Percy and Annabeth off. Ranma was glad to hear that Percy's mom was alive and free from "Smelly Gabe" who had been abusing her. He was also glad that Annabeth and her dad were giving each other another chance.

"Take care of yourself, Percy," Ranma said. "Don't slack off during the school year. Reconditioning yourself after a long break is a beast."

"I won't," Percy said. "You take care of yourself too."

"I always do," Ranma said with a smirk.

"Will you be back next summer?" Percy asked.

"I don't think so," Ranma said. "No offense to Chiron, but I think I can train Kasumi better on my own. Japan is also better for meeting with a certain person, if you know what I mean."

Percy nodded. He got the hint about Hestia having more freedom out from under the scrutiny of her brother.

"I'd like to keep in touch though," Ranma said. He passed Percy a card. "Here's the address to the Tendou Dojo where we live." He smirked. "If you ever need help saving the world, I'm your man."

Percy smirked in return. "I'll keep you in mind."

Ranma joined Kasumi in saying goodbye to Annabeth. Most of the campers who were leaving had left.

"Did anyone tell you how we were getting back to Japan?" Ranma asked.

Kasumi shook her head, slight concern showing on her face. "When I asked Argus if he was taking us to the airport he shook his head."

Argus's van was the drove away. Now visible was Apollo wearing sunglasses and leaning against a souped-up Ford Mustang. Ranma rolled his eyes at the sun god's dramatic antics.

"I take it we get the special treatment?" Ranma asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Apollo said. "The Big Guy really wants to make sure you leave."

Ranma fake pouted. Kasumi elbowed him in the ribs.

Apollo laughed. "You managed to take down the war god and escape Little Sis's punishment. You make the Council nervous."

Ranma grinned. He knew it should not make him happy, but it did.

"Hey," he said. "If it gets us a trip in your sweet ride, I'd say it's worth it."

Apollo laughed. "It is pretty sweet, isn't it?"

Ranma and Kasumi squeezed into the back seat and rode the Sun back to Japan.

The End.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I hope you enjoyed the contrast between the fights in this chapter and the previous. Yes I know Ares's banner is different in canon, but I like the idea of using a mix of old-fashioned and modern weapons in it.

Ranma Saotome and the Maiden's Daughter ends where the Lightning Thief ends. Will there be a sequel? No. I find writing Ranma's interactions with the Greek gods too difficult for me to attempt this again. Ugh. Writing Mr. D. was a struggle. To be honest, I don't really know the rest of the series that well to begin with. I did have fun with it though and hope you enjoyed it too.

Am I opposed to someone else writing a sequel? It would be pretty hypocritical of me to object to someone writing fan fiction of my fan fiction. If someone does, I would appreciate being dropped a line and mentioned in the disclaimer.

My thoughts on the future of this crossover: Ranma sits out The Sea of Monsters, but eventually makes it back to the West when things really heat up. Eventually, Ranma and Kasumi become part of both the Shinto and Greco-Roman pantheons. I see Kasumi as being the Goddess of the Kitchen in both. Ranma becomes the God/Goddess of Victory in the Shinto pantheon, but becomes the God/Goddess of Unarmed Fighting in the West due to Nike already having dibs.


End file.
